The RTI Act designated a Public Information Officer (PIO) for the citizens to get access to the required information in accordance with the provisions of the Act in October 2005. But contradicting the terms of the Act and lacking transparency, the Election Commission of India (EC) divulged selective information to people.

The Quint filed an RTI with the EC seeking information on Election Commissioner Ashok Lavasa’s note of dissent on the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) violation complaint against Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s speeches in Latur (Maharashtra), Barmer (Rajasthan), Patan (Gujarat) and Varanasi (Uttar Pradesh) during the recently concluded Lok Sabha elections.

In response to my RTI, the PIO shared documents on the file noting of the MCC violation probe, conducted in connection with PM’s speech in Varanasi. But he refused to share the file noting in connection with PM Modi’s speeches in Latur, Barmer and Patan citing section 8 (1) (g) of RTI Act, 2005, ie, “information, the disclosure of which would endanger the life or physical safety of any person”.