The Supreme Court on Tuesday directed the Election Commission of India (ECI) to consider a plea demanding the disclosure of final authenticated voter turnout data for all polling stations within 48 hours of voting.
The plea, filed by the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) and Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra, seeks directions for the ECI to upload scanned, legible copies of Form 17C Part-I (account of votes recorded) on its website.
A bench comprising Chief Justice of India (CJI) Sanjiv Khanna and Justices Sanjay Kumar and KV Viswanathan stated that the petitioners could submit a representation to the ECI within ten days.
This development followed submissions by Senior Advocate Maninder Singh, representing the Election Commission of India (ECI), who informed the Court that a new Election Commissioner had been appointed and that the petitioners could meet him to address their concerns.
Taking this into account, the Court deferred the hearing and scheduled the matter for consideration on July 28.
"List this on week commencing July 28. In the meanwhile, counsel for ECI state that the petitioners may file a representation with ECI and the ECI will give them a hearing and inform about same in advance. Let representation be made in 10 days," the Court said in its order.
The application by the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) was filed in May 2024 following controversy over a significant increase in the final voter turnout figures announced by the Election Commission of India (ECI) for the first two phases of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, compared to the initial estimates released on polling day.
Originally filed in a 2019 case, the application pointed out that data published on April 30 showed a sharp increase of approximately 5-6% in final voter turnout figures, raising concerns about the accuracy and transparency of the electoral process. The delay in announcing these figures further fueled apprehensions among voters and political parties regarding their authenticity.
ADR sought directions for the ECI to upload scanned, legible copies of Form 17C Part-I (Account of Votes Recorded) on its website after each phase of polling in the ongoing elections. The data should include constituency-wise and polling station-wise voter turnout figures in both absolute numbers and percentage form. Additionally, ADR requested the disclosure of Form 17C Part-II, which contains the candidate-wise results after counting.
The application also alleged that the ECI had failed in its duty to ensure election results through Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) were declared based on accurate and indisputable data.
In response, the ECI filed an affidavit asserting that there was no legal obligation to publish final authenticated voter turnout data for all polling stations. The Commission argued that disclosing voter turnout figures based on Form 17C, which includes votes polled in each station along with postal ballots, could cause confusion among voters.
During the hearing, advocate Prashant Bhushan, representing ADR, contended that there was a significant discrepancy between the EVM count and the number of voters who actually cast their ballots. Senior Advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi, appearing for Mahua Moitra, also raised similar concerns.
"How did end of the day polling of 10 become 50 next morning needs to be explained. There is a discrepancy in final list published and the ones who voted," he said.
"There is a new Chief Election Commissioner now. The petitioner can meet him and it may be addressed," Senior Advocate Maninder Singh said on behalf of ECI.
"We cannot go into this today," the CJI said.
"Why cannot the EC just scan and give it (Part- II of Form 17C)? They want to avoid the macro picture and analysis," Singhvi contended.
"Cannot the citizens know this? Are they not entitled to," Bhushan demanded.
"They (ECI) will hear you," the CJI said before deferring the hearing.
Website designed, developed and maintained by webexy