In a decisive move aimed at curbing misinformation, the Election Commission of India (ECI) has ordered the destruction of election-related CCTV, webcasting, and video footage within 45 days of results declaration unless legally challenged. The directive, issued to state electoral officers on May 30, significantly shortens previous preservation mandates and intensifies debates over electoral transparency.
According to Indian Express report, the instruction sent to the chief electoral officers (CEO’s) of all states have cited “recent abuse”. The commission said that videography of the electoral process is not mandatory by Law, but merely the tool of internal management. The commission wrote, “In recent times there have been incidents of misuse of these materials by non-candidates, where they were distorted on social media, removed from context, spreading misinformation and malicious narratives. There was no legal consequences, so a review was necessary.”
The new directive is different from the previous guidelines issued on September 6, 2024, which said that recordings of different were preserved for 3 months to 1 year. For example, there were instructions to reserve prior to nomination for 3 months and recordings related to voting and counting from 6 months to 1 year. Now the commission has linked this to a maximum of legal time limit of 45 days for filing an election petition. If a petition is filed within this period, the recording will be reserved as long as the matter is pending in the court. These guidelines will be applicable in the future.
Amendment made after the High Court direction
The Amendments was made in December 2024 after the Punjab and Haryana High Court has directed the release of video recordings and documents related to the Haryana Assembly elections on a petition filed by Mahmood Pracha. This decision of the Election Commission has raised questions about transparency. Opposition parties and civic organisations also have demanded voter voting data and public availability of Form !7C. In march 2025, the Supreme Court heard a petition by the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR), seeking to publish booth-wise voting data within 48 hours. The commission had rejected the demand saying that it was legally bound to share Form 17C only with poling agents and not with the general public or the media.
