MCA amends CS (Election to the Council) Rules 2006; allows E-Voting in ICSI Council Elections

The Ministry of Corporate Affairs(MCA) has amended the Company Secretaries (Election to the Council) Rules 2006 via issuing Notification.

The said amendment in rules is regarding to allowment of E-Voting in ICSI Council Elections. The New rule may be called the Company Secretaries (Election to the Council) (Amendment) Rules, 2022 and shall come into force on the date of publication in the Official Gazette.

In the Company Secretaries (Election to the Council) Rules, 2006 in rule 2(1), in clause (b), the words “form approved,” were substituted by the the words, “form including electronic form approved”, which indicates the approval of e-voting in ICSI Elections.

By the insertion of the following after Rule 2(1)(b), the approval of E-Voting were also reflected:-

(ba) “ballot paper” means paper in printed form or in electronic mode for the purpose of casting of vote;

(bb) “Electronic Voting Platform” means a secured electronic platform used for the purpose of voting, including portal or application or combination of any of the electronic system or software as approved by the Council.

(bc) “voting” means casting of vote by physical mode or electronic mode; (bd) “Voting by physical mode” means voting through printed ballot paper at designated polling booth or through postal means;

(be) “Voting by electronic mode” means remote electronic voting or voting at polling booth through any electronic voting platform;

(bf) “polling booth” means a booth designated for the purpose of voting;

(bg) “remote electronic voting” means voting through electronic voting platform from any location other than polling booth.

In Rule 4(2)(e), the provisions of remote electronic voting were also added, which are as follows:-

After the words “vote by post”, the words, “or through remote electronic voting” shall be inserted;

In clause (f), after the words, “back from voters”, the words, “or last date and time for remote electronic voting” shall be inserted.

Election through Electronic Mode considers following rule:-

(1) Every voter shall have one vote only, and he shall have as many preferences as there are candidates.

(2) The voter in order to cast his vote;-

(a) shall record on the electronic voting platform the first preference against the name of the candidate for whom he votes first; and

(b) may, in addition, record on the electronic voting platform the second preference, third preference and so on against the name of other candidate in the order to his preference, upto the maximum number of preferences available to him under sub-rule (i).

The new amendment rule also provided, “Where a voter, after entering into the electronic voting platform, chooses not to vote, his electronic ballot paper shall be deemed to be invalid and shall be rejected by the Returning Officer and he shall not be permitted to vote again.”

Procedure for Remote Electronic Voting were also sanctioned through this amendment rule, which are as follow:

(1) Access to the electronic voting platform shall be allowed on the date of election issued for this purpose and Electronic voting platform shall be kept open for remote voting for not more than twenty four hours unless otherwise determined by the Council.

(2) Eligible voter may cast his vote from any location on the Electronic Voting Platform and to access the electronic voting platform, such voter shall be provided with a password through email or mobile number registered with the Institute, as determined by the Returning Officer.

(3) If Remote Electronic Voting does not take place on the day appointed for recording of votes or interrupted or obstructed due to non-functioning or malfunctioning of Electronic Voting Platform or the data used for Remote Electronic Voting is tampered with or is accidentally or deliberately destroyed, lost or damaged, the Returning Officer may adjourn the polling to a subsequent date or Returning Officer may declare the polling void and order for a fresh polling and as soon as possible, appoint the date and time, as the case may be, for the said polling and the date and the time of polling so appointed shall be intimated individually to all voters affected as well as published in the Gazette of India.

This is a significant step in digitalizing the procedures of the Institute of Company Secretaries of India (ICSI) Council Elections, making voting easier and paperless for the enrolled Company Secretaries members.

For Official Notification Download PDF Given Below: