New Delhi (The Hindu): Has your name been removed from the electoral list, denying you your right to vote? Now, you can take the Chief Electoral Officer to task for denying you your statutory right as a citizen and demand compensation for it.

In an order passed on July 29 in the Sumit vs. Chief Election Officer (CEO) case, the Central Information Commission (CIC) upheld the voter’s right and directed that the appellant be paid Rs.10,000 as compensation for not being informed about the deletion of his name from the voters’ list and further being denied information on it under the RTI Act.

Sumit, a resident and registered voter from Nangloi, was unable to vote in the Delhi Assembly elections in February this year as his name had been deleted from the electoral rolls. He filed a Right to Information query with the Chief Public Information Officer (CPIO) of the office of the CEO on February 17 but received no response why his name was deleted. On June 11, the appellant approached the CIC with a request to settle his RTI query.

The CIC took a stern stand on the arbitrary deletion and denial of information regarding deletion of a legitimate voter’s name from the electoral list, calling it a significant violation of a constitutional and statutory right of voting as well as of the right to information under the RTI Act.

The Commission directed the CPIO to show cause why penalty should not be imposed for not furnishing information about deleting the voter’s name within the prescribed period and post the same on the official website. It also directed that a compensation of Rs.10,000 be paid to the appellant for not being informed about the deletion and being denied information under RTI. Nobody represented the public authority during the hearing on Wednesday.

The Commission also recorded its appreciation for the young boy for his anguish at the unjust denial of an opportunity to cast his vote and performing his duty as an alert citizen of this democratic country to secure his most valuable voting right.

The Commission has issued directions to the CPIO of the public authority to inform if any inquiry was conducted into such deletion after it was made, and if not then conduct an inquiry into the reasons for the arbitrary deletion of his name.