Hello,
‍

Here is another instalment on the Election Commission of India’s special intensive revision scandal. Last week, we received a reply from the Ministry of Law and Justice on a Right to Information request. What they said was incredulous.

We figured that the ECI would have consulted with the law ministry on this matter, as they usually do. Which is why right after the electoral roll revision was announced we filed an RTI request with the law ministry to find out what advice, if any, it had given to the Commission on revising the entire country’s electoral roll, starting from Bihar.

The Ministry of Law smartly tried to get out of providing us this information. They neither confirmed nor denied giving any opinion to the ECI. They replied that in case they had offered the Commission their opinion, they do not have it on file.

Imagine, the same government that repeatedly demands citizens present papers and preserve records to prove their citizenship and right to vote claims to have no papers when citizens ask for them.

Irony dies a thousand deaths.

We have not been caught in the law ministry’s farce, and we believe it is a lie. We have appealed the department’s decision but we also decided to write about it publicly.

Our summary thread on this can be read here.

Today (July 28), the Supreme Court will hold its second hearing on ECI's decision to revise voter lists in Bihar and subsequently the rest of the country. By now, the first phase of the revision exercise has been completed in Bihar.

We have been doggedly keeping track of this exercise from the very beginning.

Here are the three parts of our investigation so far.

Part 1: Bihar Electoral Roll Investigation

Part 2: Confirmed: Next, Voters in West Bengal to face ECI’s Unprecedented Electoral Roll Revision

Part 3: Election Commission: Burden on people to provide proof of citizenship during countrywide voter list revision

We have been covering this scandal from all angles from the get go. But the Indian government’s tax notice has put a serious strain on our finances. Nevertheless our small newsroom has kept going to keep tabs on our democratic process.

Donate today.
‍

Warm Regards,
Ayushi Kar
Reporter

‍

We Need Your Support.

In the past three years, The Reporters’ Collective uncovered some of the biggest cases of systemic corruption, denial of rights of citizens and misgovernance. We tried to hold the powerful accountable.
But to continue doing what big media houses won't do for you, we need your financial support as we don't publish advertisements.
We need a minimum of Rs 5 lakh a month. Your donations are our oxygen. We will not survive long without your donations, Click on the donate button below to know us more and support.

I would like to contribute

For Donations less than Rs.50,000

For Donations above Rs. 50,000

Please select an amount

Only Indian citizens can donate to The Reporters' Collective.
You can change how much you give or cancel your contributions at any time.
‍
By proceeding, you are agreeing to our Terms and Conditions. To find out what personal data we collect and how we use it, please visit our Privacy Policy.

Law Ministry Denied Giving Papers on Special Intensive Revision

We Need Your Support.

Join the TRC newsletter.