The Supreme Court on Friday refused to pass any interim order on a plea seeking directions to the Election Commission of India (ECI) to upload scanned copies of Form 17-C, which records the number of voter polled in a polling booth, reports Bar and Bench.
A vacation bench of Justices Dipankar Datta and Satish Chandra Sharma was hearing a plea by NGO ‘Association for Democratic Reforms,’ which has also sought direction for the poll panel to upload scanned legible copies of Form 17C Part-I (Account of Votes Recorded) of all polling stations immediately after the polls.
The bench said that it can’t issue any such directions as of the moment and five phases of elections have concluded and two remain. It would be difficult for the poll panel to mobilise manpower for uploading the voter turnout data on its website, the court said.
The top court adjourned the interlocutory application filed by the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) to be listed before the regular bench after the elections and pointed out that prima facie it appears the prayers in the application are similar to the main petition pending since 2019 on the issue, reports PTI.
The matter will be listed before the appropriate bench after vacation.
The Court also clarified that no opinion were expressed on merits apart from prima facie view.
The ADR has filed an interim application in its 2019 PIL seeking directions to the poll panel that “scanned legible copies of Form 17C Part-I (Account of Votes Recorded)” of all polling stations be uploaded immediately after the polls.
On May 17, a Vacation Bench heard the matter after a three-judge bench led by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud expressed reluctance to interfere in the matter.
On Thursday, the Election Commission opposed the demand by ADR to upload polling station-wise voter turnout data on its website within 48 hours of the conclusion of polling for each phase of the Lok Sabha elections, arguing it could “vitiate” the electoral space and cause “chaos” in the poll machinery during the general elections.
In its counter affidavit, the poll panel said there is no legal mandate to provide Form 17C to any person other than the candidate or his agent.
It said that public posting of Form 17C — which provides the number of votes polled in a polling station — is not provided in the statutory framework and could lead to mischief and vitiation of the entire electoral space as it increases the possibility of the images being morphed.
The apex poll body also dismissed as false and misleading the allegation that there was “5-6” per cent difference between the voter turnout data released on the day of the polling for the first two phases of the Lok Sabha elections and the press releases issued subsequently.