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Informist, Tuesday, Mar. 18, 2025

 

NEW DELHI - The Supreme Court on Tuesday asked non-governmental organisations Association for Democratic Reforms, Common Cause and Trinamool Congress' Mahua Moitra to file a representation with the Election Commission of India to resolve the issue of publication of details of voter turnout and final vote counts on the poll panel's website. The top court put up the case for hearing in the week commencing Jul. 28 after noting the poll panel's statement that it will provide a hearing to the petitioners once a representation is made.

 

Advocate Prashant Bhushan, appearing for the non-government organisations, said there was a huge discrepancy in the number of people who turned up for voting and those provided by the Election Commission. There is a new chief election commissioner now, the petitioners can meet him and it may be addressed, said Advocate Maninder Singh, appearing for the poll panel.

 

In 2019, Trinamool Congress' Mahua Moitra had moved the apex court seeking directions to the poll body to publish details of voter turnout and final vote counts on their website. Moitra had then alleged discrepancies in the voter turnout data for the 2019 General Election. In 2020, non-government organisations Common Cause and Association for Democratic Reforms had also sought investigation into the alleged discrepancies in the 17th Lok Sabha election results. The top court had then tagged the non-government organisations' petitions with that of Moitra.

 

The non-government organisations had urged the court to issue directions to the Election Commission to upload on its website scanned, legible copies of form 17C, or the number of votes cast in a booth, within 48 hours of polling. In May, the Supreme Court had refused to pass any interim order in the case. The court had then noted that this was because the non-government organisation, in its application filed in 2024 had made a similar demand in its petition in the same case pending since 2019.  End

 

Reported by Surya Tripathi

Edited by Vandana Hingorani

 

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