The Election Commission of India on Sunday withdrew the notice it had issued to Congress President Rahul Gandhi last week regarding certain violations of the Model Code of Conduct.

The EC had instructed Chief Electoral Officer of Gujarat BB Swain to file a First Information Report against local news channel Gujarat Samachar, which had aired an interview of Congress President-designate Rahul Gandhi a day before the second phase of the Assembly elections. The poll panel had held that this violated the Model Code of Conduct in effect in the state, and was in violation of Section 126 (1) (b) of the Representation of People Act, 1951.

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“The Commission is of the considered view that due to multifold expansion of digital and electronic media, the extnt of Model Code of Conduct, Section 126 of Representation of People Act, 1951, and other related provisions require revisiting to cater to the requirement and challenges of the current and emerging situations,” the commission told the Congress in a letter.

It added that a committee will be formed to look into the provisions of Section 126 of Representation of People’s Act, which prohibits public meetings and displaying or propagating election-related matter 48 hours before the poll. This committee will “suggest changes in the prevailing context of communication technologies”.

The committee will include representation from the Election Commission of India, Ministry of Information & Broadcasting, Ministry of Law and Justice, Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, the National Broadcasters Associations and the Press Council of India. “Increasing changes in the technology of communication makes it necessary that the administration, preferably the Law Commission, should have another look at the section and clarify its limits,” said the commission.

The poll panel conveyed this to the Bharatiya Janata Party also in another letter.