SC refuses to order EC to upload polling booth-wise voter turnout data
New Delhi, May 24 (PTI) The Supreme Court on Friday refused to issue directions to the Election Commission on an NGO’s plea for uploading polling booth-wise voter turnout data on its website during the Lok Sabha elections and favoured a “hands-off attitude” amidst an ongoing electoral process.
A vacation bench of Justices Dipankar Datta and Satish Chandra Sharma adjourned the hearing on the application filed by ‘Association for Democratic Reforms’ and said it will be heard with the NGO’s writ petition filed in 2019 after the Lok Sabha elections are over.
It said everyone wants free and fair elections but “we are also concerned that there could be mischievous people looking to take advantage”.
“The arguments on the interim application were heard. Prima facie we are not inclined to grant any relief on the interim application at this stage in view of the similarities of prayer ‘A’ of interim application with prayer ‘B’ of writ petition out of which the interim application arises. Grant of such interim relief would amount to granting the final relief in the writ petition,” the court said.
It said the 2024 elections are spread over seven phases out of which five are already over and the sixth is on May 25.
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