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The government has tweaked an election rule to prevent public inspection of certain electronic documents such as CCTV cameras, webcasting footage, and video recordings of candidates to prevent their misuse. This has led to the Opposition accusing the government of “eroding integrity of the electoral process”.

EC officials have said misuse of CCTV camera footage from inside polling booths could compromise voter secrecy. They also said the footage could be used to generate fake narrative using artificial intelligence (AI).

The Union Law Ministry on Friday amended Rule 93(2)(a) of the Conduct of Election Rules, 1961, to restrict the type of “papers” or documents open to public inspection, based on a recommendation by the Election Commission (EC).

According to Rule 93, all “papers” related to elections shall be open to public inspection. The amendment, however, inserts “as specified in these rules” after “papers”.

A court case triggered the amendment, according to Law Ministry and EC officials.

While documents such as nomination forms, appointment of election agents, results and election account statements are mentioned in the Conduct of Election Rules, electronic documents such as CCTV camera footage, webcasting footage and video recording of candidates during the model code period are not covered.

“CCTV coverage, webcasting of polling stations are not carried out under Conduct of Election Rules but are the result of steps taken by the EC to ensure a level playing field,” a former EC official told news agency PTI.

Another EC official said there have been instances where such electronic records have been sought, citing the rules. “The amendment ensures that only papers mentioned in the rules are available for public inspection and any other document which has no reference in the rules is not allowed for public inspection.”

All such material is still available to candidates, including footage, as people can always go to court to get electronic records, an EC official said, adding candidates already have access to all documents and papers and nothing has been amended in the rules in this regard.

The Punjab and Haryana High Court directed sharing all documents related to the Haryana assembly elections, including CCTV camera footage, with lawyer Mahmoud Pracha in a case he contested against the EC.

The rule mentioned only election papers, and election papers and documents do not specifically refer to electronic records. In order to remove this ambiguity, the rule has been amended to safeguard the misuse of CCTV camera footage from polling stations, an EC official said.

Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh said the party will challenge the amendment in court.

“If there was ever a vindication of our assertions regarding the rapidly eroding integrity of the electoral process managed by the Election Commission of India (ECI) in recent times, this is it,” Mr Ramesh said in a post on X.

The Congress leader said sunlight was the best disinfectant and information would restore faith in the election process — a reasoning the Punjab and Haryana High Court agreed with when it directed the EC to share all information it was legally required to with the public.

On being told that a woman died in a stampede during the premiere of ‘Pushpa 2’, an actor allegedly said that the “film will now be a hit”, Telangana MLA Akbaruddin Owaisi claimed in the state assembly on Saturday, teeing off a fresh controversy.

A 35-year-old woman died and her eight-year-old son was hospitalised on December 4 during a stampede-like situation at the Sandhya Theatre in Hyderabad when thousands of fans jostled to catch a glimpse of actor Allu Arjun at the premiere of the ‘Pushpa 2: The Rule’, which is a sequel to 2021’s blockbuster film “Pushpa: The Rise”.

“I do not want to take the name of that famous filmstar because I do not want to give him that importance. But sir, according to my information, that filmstar went to a theatre to see the movie. He was sitting, there was a commotion, after that the police came and said that there was a stampede, two children fell down, and a woman died. The filmstar smiled and said that the picture is going to be a hit now,” said Mr Owaisi, the leader of Asaduddin Owaisi’s All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen or AIMIM.

“Two children were caught in the stampede. A woman died. Even after that he (filmstar) sat there and watched the whole movie. After that he got up but even at that time he did not care about the stampede. He sat in his car and went away waving,” said Mr Owaisi, the floor leader of AIMIM.

The filmstar, said the MLA, appears to be sending out a message that the government is “committing this oppression, it is committing atrocities”.

“But where is his humanity?” asked the MLA.

Citing his own case, the MLA pointed to his huge political rallies and the thousands who come to attend them, underlining that he always takes care that there’s no stampede.

“I also go for public meetings where thousands of people come. I make sure that there is no stampede, Sir. I make sure the security around me doesn’t push the people so that nobody gets caught in a stampede. I went for the Maharashtra election, thousands and lakhs of people were there, Sir. I made sure that nobody is pushed,” said Mr Owaisi.

“Sir, I remember once my security official’s cap had fallen down while protecting me. He had to do his duty. He was protecting me. So I went down and picked up his cap, Sir.  But here you see, Sir, a woman dies, two small children were caught in the stampede, one is under coma and that gentlemen doesn’t even bother to go and ask and see them. And goes waving like that. If I am wrong, please correct me, sir,” said Mr Owaisi, slamming the unnamed actor.

‘Didn’t Have Permission’

Following the incident, the city police registered a case against actor Allu Arjun, his security team, and the theatre management under different sections of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) at the Chikkadpally police station based on the complaint by the victim’s family.

An arrest followed soon after. The actor secured bail, but had to spend a night in jail.

Upon his release from jail, Mr Arjun thanked his fans and expressed his condolences to the victim’s family. “It was an unfortunate incident. We are sorry for what happened,” he said at the time.

Despite police permission being denied, the national award-winning actor attended the theatre where ‘Pushpa 2’ was screened on December 4, Telangana Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy claimed today.

Even after the death of the woman in the stampede, the actor did not leave the cinema hall, prompting the police to force him out, the Chief Minister claimed.

Mr Reddy further said the theatre management gave a letter to the police on December 2 seeking security for the visit of top actors and others on December 4. However, the police rejected the application, citing difficulties in crowd management.

Before entering the theatre and while exiting, the actor stood through the sunroof of his car and waved to the crowds leading to thousands of fans jostling to get a glimpse of him, he said.

He slammed film personalities for making a beeline for Allu Arjun’s residence to meet him after his arrest but not showing empathy to visit the boy who is undergoing treatment in hospital after suffering injuries in the incident.

“Film personalities went in queue to enquire at Allu Arjun’s home but not one of them went to enquire about the woman who died or her son who is in a coma for almost 20 days. What should we think about film industry elders? They are ready to criticise the government and me but not one of them reached out to the family,” Mr Reddy said.

The Chief Minister emphasised that there won’t be any special privileges when untoward incidents like death in a stampede happen and said the government would not spare those who troubled common people.