Thiruvananthapuram: Right to Information activists have termed as “gross violation” the Chief Election Commission's decision to clamp the model code of conduct in the state long before the stipulated three weeks before the date of issue of notification. They point out that the Code should have come into force in the state only on April 1. But the CEC went ahead and imposed it on the state on March 4 itself "causing huge difficulties for the public".
Under chapter 7 of Model Code of Conduct Rules, the Commission should announce the date of any election not more than three weeks prior to the date on which the notification is likely to be issued in respect of such elections. The notification for the Assembly polls in the state was issued on April 22. This means the announcement should have been made only on April 1.
“As a result of this over-enthusiastic attitude of the CEC, thousands of poor patients with terminal illness, including patients who were awaiting organ transplants, were denied benefit. It was reported that patients had even died due to denial of timely medical aid,” said M T Thomas, member of National Campaign for People's Right to Information led by activists like Aruna Roy and Nikhil Dey.
Mr Thomas said he had written to the CEC regarding the untimely announcement and the problems caused as a result but did not get a reply. Later, it was the High Court that came to the rescue of 40,000-odd applicants whose pleas for urgent assistance were blocked on the grounds that the code was in force. An RTI reply furnished by the Commission essentially stated that its decision to enforce the code early was proper.
