SC tells EC to consider plea seeking disclosure of final voter turnout after each polling phase

The Supreme Court on Tuesday asked the Election Commission to look into a petition seeking the disclosure of the final and authenticated booth-wise voter turnout data within 48 hours after each phase of polling, Bar and Bench reported.

A bench of Chief Justice Sanjiv Khanna and Justices Sanjay Kumar and KV Viswanathan was hearing a petition filed by non-governmental organisation Association for Democratic Reforms and Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra.

The petitioners sought directions to the Election Commission to upload scanned and legible copies of Form 17C (Part I) on its website, according to Bar and Bench.

The Conduct of Election Rules, 1961, require presiding officers to prepare an account of votes recorded in Form 17C (Part I) and record the number of votes in favour of each candidate.

At the hearing, Senior Advocate Maninder Singh, representing the Election Commission, noted that a new chief election commissioner had been appointed and added that the petitioners could meet him to have their grievances heard.

Gyanesh Kumar was appointed the chief election commissioner on February 17.

In response, the court said that the petitioners could make a representation to the Election Commission on the matter within ten days. It then listed the case for hearing on July 28.

In May 2024, the Association for Democratic Reforms filed the petition amid a controversy over the...

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