“The basic object of the Right to Information Act is to empower the citizens, promote transparency and accountability in the working of the government, contain corruption, and make our democracy work for the people in real sense.” - Right To Information Act, 2005

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.