Supreme Court Agrees To Examine Feasibility Of Biometric & Facial Recognition For Voters; Seeks Centre And ECI Response

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday agreed to examine a plea seeking the implementation of fingerprint and facial recognition biometric identification at polling stations to curb duplicate and fraudulent voting.

A bench headed by Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi issued notices to the Centre, the Election Commission of India, and several states, seeking their responses on the matter. However, the court made it clear that such a measure cannot be introduced for the ongoing state Assembly elections.

“Whether such a recourse deserves to be followed before the next parliamentary election and/or state assembly elections needs to be examined,” the bench observed, reported news agency PTI.

The court noted that rolling out biometric and facial authentication at polling booths would not be a simple administrative exercise, pointing out that it would require amendments to existing rules and entail a significant financial burden.

The development comes amid ongoing debates over electoral reforms, with the court now set to consider whether technological interventions like biometric verification can be integrated into India’s electoral process ahead of future polls.