When on polling day for Haryana and Maharashtra elections, advertisements featuring Prime Minister Narendra Modi with the chief respective ministers of the two states appeared in local newspapers, they raised many eyebrows and questions. But while many may have found them to be ethically wrong, they could pass legal scrutiny. That’s because the Modi government has not responded to an appeal by the Election Commission to amend Section 126 of the Representation of Peoples Act which allows such advertising.Over the last decade and a half, successive governments have ignored appeals by Election Commission of India (EC) to amend Section 126 of the Representation of Peoples Act that allows such advertising during the ‘period of tranquil’.That, however, is not the case of the electronic media, which is governed by another law that was passed that barred such advertising in the 48 hour ‘silence period’ before the end of voting.Talking to The Wire, former Chief Election Commissioner N. Gopalaswami said, “The fact that parties still manage to place advertisements in newspapers on voting day is due to a lacuna in the law and till the time it is rectified this anomaly would remain.”He said when it comes to placing advertisements in the 48 hour ‘silence period’, “there is a prohibition on electronic media but there is no prohibition for print media.”The commission, the former CEC said, has been asking for a long time that all the media should be placed on the same footing. “The Act pertaining to the electronic media came later. In that Act, there was a provision (for not displaying advertisements in the silence period). The earlier provision, which pertained to print media, remained as it is. According to it on the day of the polls advertisements were not prohibited.”Also read: Moderate Voting, Sporadic Violence, EVM Glitches Mark Polling in Haryana, MaharashtraGopalaswami, who served as CEC from June 2006 to April 2009, said the Commission has been writing to the Central Government on this issue since 2004 or even earlier. “It is the government which will have to act in the matter,” he said.“The Commission cannot act on its own.” ‘An NGO can approach SC in the matter’“For nearly 15 years now every CEC has dutifully written about electoral reforms that are needed and this (Section 126 amendment) has always been one of the issues, but no government has acted in the matter. The issue finds a mention on the EC site too under electoral reforms suggestions,” he added. However, while the EC cannot approach the Supreme Court in this matter, an NGO could certainly do so.EC panel submitted report on amendments in January 2019The EC last year constituted a committee under the chairmanship of senior deputy election commissioner Umesh Sinha to review and suggest modifications and changes in the provisions of the Section 126 and other sections of the Representation of the People Act 1951, provisions of Model Code of Conduct and any other EC instructions in this regard submitted its report to the Commission.The scope of the committee involved:(a) Study and examine the present provisions of the Section 126 and other related Sections of the Representation of the People Act, 1951 and identify difficulties/critical gaps to regulate the violation of the said provisions of the act, particularly during the prohibitory period of 48 hours before the completion of the poll, mentioned in section 126 and suggest necessary amendment/modification.(b) Examine the type, category or growth of communication technology or media platform in the country and difficulties in regulating these media platforms during multiphase elections when a prohibitory period of 48 hours are in force.(c) Impact of new media platforms and social media during the prohibitory period of 48 hours before the close of poll and its implication in view of the provisions of section 126.(d) Examine the present provisions of the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) related to the above issues and suggest modification in this regard.Also read: Divided Opposition Is BJP’s Biggest Hope as Haryana VotesThe panel submitted its report to the EC on January 19 this year. It was stated that that time that “the recommendations made by the Committee, when implemented (after adoption by the EC with necessary modification or additions), will help in minimising the possible interference of activities which aim at indirectly influencing voters during the valuable silence period of 48 hours provided to them. The recommendations of the Committee will be considered by the Commission in detail for follow up action.”EC asks law ministry to extend Section 126 to print media tooSubsequently, it was reported in a national daily the same month that “the EC has sought an amendment to the law to prevent social media and other digital platforms from carrying political advertisements in the final 48 hours before elections.”The report also stated that “while Section 126 of the Representation of People Act prevents electronic media from airing political advertisements in the ‘silent period’ before elections, the EC in 2015 brought in rules that made pre-certification mandatory for campaign material to be published in newspapers during the 48 hours.”Quoting “people in the know”, the report added that, “The EC has written to the law ministry, suggesting to extend the provisions under Section 126 to digital and print media as well, keeping in mind the differential approach to print and electronic media, and the rising impact of social media on elections.”No response from law ministryResponding to a query from The Wire about the law ministry’s response in connection with Section 126 of the Representation of People Act, the EC spokesperson said that “No response has been received as yet from the law ministry.”In fact, this is the reason why a recent communication from the Election Commission to the chief electoral officers of Haryana and Maharashtra had only called for “pre-certification of political advertisements in print media on the day of poll and one day prior to poll in Haryana and Maharashtra”.Also read: Maharashtra Elections: Reluctant Allies BJP, Shiv Sena Seek Second TermEC cautions against misleading, offending adsIn this note, the commission had said that “instances of advertisements of offending and misleading nature published in print media have been brought to the notice of the commission in the past. Such advertisements in the last stage of the election vitiate the entire election process. The affected candidates and parties will not have any opportunity of providing clarification/rebuttal in such cases.”Ahead of assembly polls, the EC directed the vetting of all political ads, the commission in order to “ensure that such instances are not repeated, and no untoward incident takes place because of any inflammatory, misleading or hate advertisements,” directed that no advertisement in the print media be published on poll day and one day prior to poll day unless the contents had been got pre-certified from the Media Certification and Monitoring Committees (MCMC). Such committees have been constituted at the districts and state level.