24 May,2024 12:53 PM IST | Delhi | mid-day online correspondent
Supreme Court/ File pic
The Supreme Court refused to provide interim relief on a petition to publish booth-by-booth voter turnout data during the India General Elections 2024. The bench, which included Justices Dipankar Dutta and Satish Chandra Sharma, stated that it could not intervene in the existing election process, as five of the seven phases had already been finished and the sixth was set for Saturday, reported ANI.
According to the report, the court deferred the application, emphasising the importance of a "hands-off" policy during India General Elections 2024. It highlighted that the interim plea raised in the current case paralleled a petition that had been ongoing since 2019. The bench ordered that the interim plea be heard after the summer holiday, but did not express an opinion on the merits of the case.
"Prima facie we are not inclined to grant any interim relief since prayer A of the 2019 petition is similar to prayer B of the 2024 application. List the interim plea after (summer) vacation," ordered the bench.
The NGO Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) submitted the application, which seeks to disclose final authenticated voter participation data within 48 hours of polls closure.
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Meanwhile, Senior counsel Maninder Singh, representing the Election Commission of India (ECI), rejected ADR's application, citing "unfounded suspicions" and "false" assertions. Singh contended that such petitions could diminish voter turnout by constantly challenging the electoral process, so harming public interest and the legitimacy of election results.
"Petitions like these are responsible for reducing the voter turnout because of the "continuous questioning of the process", said Singh.
The ECI previously said that publishing voter participation data based on Form 17C would create confusion among voters because it includes postal ballot counts.
The court asked the ECI to respond to the application by May 17. ADR claimed a delay in disclosing voter turnout numbers for the first two stages of polling during India General Elections 2024, as well as anomalies in the first disclosed figures. The NGO requested that the ECI disclose tabulated polling station data and upload scanned copies of Form 17C Part II to its website.
The application highlighted a significant increase in voter turnout percentages between the initial announcements on polling days and the data published by the ECI later.
