Ayushi Kar
We @reporters_co asked the Ministry of Law for all records of the legal advice it has given to Election Commission of India @ECISVEEP on the "Special Intensive Revision" that the latter is undertaking in Bihar for now and in the rest of India, next. Guess what they said?
Why is it of importance: The Supreme Court is going to hear the SIR case on Monday (July 28). ECI has gone all out defending its decision to have every citizen prove their right to vote and citizenship afresh. Read our analysis of ECI's affidavit:
So, our RTI and the law and justice ministry: ECI engages with different arms of the government. We know it speaks with the law ministry for such matters. Remember @reporters_co tracked it for years to unearth the electoral bonds scam.
Before announcing the unprecedented SIR in Bihar, ECI would consult with the law ministry, we figured. We filed an RTI asking for all correspondence, notings, records and files on the issue with the law ministry. The answer it gave is incredulous.
Turns out that while the ECI and the gov't wants us preserve and show all records to prove our citizenship and voting rights repeatedly, its law ministry claims that it has not been too diligent with its record keeping.
Pause for a second and consider donating to The Reporters' Collective @reporters_co. We can doggedly pursue such crucial developments because you fund us, not the government or the corporates.
The law ministry claims it has kept NO RECORD of any advice given to the ECI. You heard that right. It formally informed us that the law ministry has preserved no record of and about any advice tendered to the ECI on the controversial SIR.
The ministry did not say it has not given such advice. Smart move. It said, if it had given such advice, it was put on a file given to it by ECI and returned. This is pure hogwash. Particularly, when coming from the law ministry which, ironically, administers the RTI Act.
Why? Because we track government systems. We know how records are legally required to be maintained under the govt's Manual of Office Procedure. Meticulous files are maintained, each internal discussion, comment, incoming and outgoing correspondence is numbered and recorded.
A missing paper or file requires the ministry to file an FIR because its a criminal offense. A record kept wrongly leads to departmental proceedings against officials that can include dismissal from service.
So, no, we have not taken the law ministry at face value. It has not told us the truth. It is refusing to disclose the records by telling lies, we believe.
This is a critical juncture as the Supreme Court tomorrow hears the matter. Such disclosures could have been vital. Under the RTI law, the GOI is legally obligated to proactively put out information. In this case, it lied to us to prevent citizens from knowing.
We at @reporters_co have been doggedly investigating the SIR scandal while many other fraternal colleagues have been at it too on the field.
In Part 1 of our investigation we examined Bihar's electoral roll revision. ECI records for the state showed no sudden red flags or aberrations warranting a complete overhaul months before polls. We also tracked the chaos that ensued days into SIR.
The Bihar Electoral Roll Investigation
In Part 2, we spoke to state officials in West Bengal. We confirmed that ECI has given oral orders to the state officials to start preparing for overhaul of electoral lists in WB too.
Confirmed: Next, Voters in West Bengal to face ECI’s Unprecedented Electoral Roll Revision
In Part 3, we reviewed the ECI's counter-affidavit to the SC. The ECI has said all citizens will have to show their documents to prove their citizenship and right to vote from scratch across the country. Read our careful study of ECI's reply here:
On Friday, one day before the deadline in Bihar, ECI stated that 99.8% of electors have been covered in the state; they have not yet received enumeration forms from 1.2 lakh electors.
ECI failed to mention the number of these forms which have been returned without documentation. ECI changed rules midway to ask people to hastily submit the forms even if they don't have the necessary documents. That will be dealt with during the verification period.
Therefore countless citizens still have yet to confirm to their local election officials whether they are eligible to be included, and ECI has not yet given that number.
Others on ground have captured what this month of chaos has looked like in Bihar. @ajitanjum on his YouTube channel has been consistently bringing reports from Bihar, on the exercise.
@_YogendraYadav, who has been keeping tabs on the SIR from the outset, reported on the chaos in Bihar along with his colleagues, as citizens recounted what it took to gather documents requested by the government on such short notice.
Yogendra Yadav writes: On ground in Bihar, Election Commission of India writes a dystopian fiction
In another report @santoshchitra tracked several migrants hurriedly returning to Bihar to submit their form. In their reply to SC ECI indicated the online option of form submission would prevent this chaos, the contrary holds true on ground....
As EC’s Bihar deadline looms, migrants scramble to fill forms, many may miss it
This is because the ECI launched the option to submit the form online for residents outside of Bihar with only ten days to go.
Yet ECI claims all is well. In fact, ECI asked political parties to help on ground with this revision process. But here is ECI's own record of party agents, cited in their reply to the SC. The Nitish-BJP alliance leads the pack. Though JD too has indicated misgivings.
Again, I request, please donate to keep us going. And yes, we aren't letting of the false reply to the RTI by the law ministry. We have appealed it. We will keep at it.
