New Delhi, Sep 24 Trinamool Congress leader Saket Gokhale on Thursday accused the Election Commission of withholding details of software and algorithm used for SIR of electoral rolls, citing an RTI response in which the poll panel said the information sought was related to “commercial confidence, trade secrets and intellectual property matters”.
In a post on X, Gokhale shared his RTI application and the response from the Election Commission, and questioned why details of software used by a public authority were being withheld on grounds of commercial interests.
“I’d asked the ECI about details of the software, who designed it, & who was given the tender. SHOCKINGLY, ECI has refused to disclose the details claiming it would ‘affect commercial confidence’,” he said.
“A software used by a public authority is being kept secret for “commercial interests”. Therefore, WHICH COMPANY’s COMMERCIAL INTEREST IS BEING PROTECTED?” he said.
In his RTI application dated April 17, Gokhale had sought technical documents relating to the “Logical Discrepancy” module or algorithm integrated into ERONET for the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) in West Bengal, including its software and functional requirements, the logic and parameters used to flag discrepancies, procurement and development documents, testing and validation reports, file notings and instructions issued to electoral registration officers.
ERONET is the Election Commission’s centralised system for managing India’s voter database.
The Election Commission, in its response dated July 21, said information sought under points 1 and 2 was exempt from disclosure under Section 8(1)(d) of the RTI Act, which covers information, including commercial confidence, trade secrets and intellectual property.
It also said that “no module has been developed specifically for SIR in West Bengal”.
On the question of procurement and development, the Commission said, “No separate procurement and development has been made for SIR in West Bengal.”
The poll panel said information sought on testing, validation, administrative approvals and instructions to officers did not arise in view of its response on the procurement and development query.
On the number of electors flagged under different categories of “logical discrepancy”, the Commission said the information “may be available with concerned Electoral Registration Officers” and asked Gokhale to file separate RTI applications with the Electoral Registration Officers concerned.
Gokhale’s RTI application had sought the number of electors flagged under each sub-category of logical discrepancy, including age-gap and progeny-count criteria, as recorded by the software for West Bengal at the time of final publication of the electoral roll.
In his post on Thursday, Gokhale alleged that the EC was “hiding the details of the software used for SIR” and questioned which company’s commercial interests were being protected.
“Election Commission is HIDING the details of the software used for SIR claiming it is a “trade secret” & “affects commercial confidence,” Gokhale said.
He also asked which company developed it and accused the EC of hiring a private company to design the SIR software used for deleting voters.
Gokhale’s allegations come a day after an Indian Express report said Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi had objected on record at least 14 times over the last 10 months to decisions and orders they said were issued without their knowledge, even as the national rollout of the SIR was under the supervision of the full commission.
Their objections covered the manner in which the statutory voter registration Form 6 was amended, the handling of additions and deletions from voter lists, and centralised control over the electoral roll database, according to the report.
The report said the two commissioners had questioned whether the software was restricting the statutory powers of Electoral Registration Officers (ERO).
The EC’s response to the RTI, however, specifically states that no separate software module was developed for the SIR in West Bengal, Gokhale said.
Under fire over the red flags raised by two of its commissioners over the SIR process, the EC asserted on Wednesday that differing views and observations are a normal part of deliberations in any institution and all its orders carry full legal sanction and follow established statutory procedures.
(PTI News)
