New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday rung the curtain on fresh Lok Sabha polls as it refused to entertain plea by an NGO to direct the Election Commission to upload voter turnout data for each polling station on its website during the ongoing Lok Saha elections.
The vacation bench of Justices Dipankar Datta and Satish Chandra Sharma stated that it would be challenging for the Election Commission to arrange the necessary manpower at this stage, as five phases of polling are already over, with only two remaining.
"We should also keep in mind the ground realities and not overburden the EC during the elections and tht too by changing the process midway," the Bench said. The court adjourned the interlocutory plea filed by the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) to be heard by the regular bench after the elections.
The Bench noted that prayer in the application appear to be similar to those in the main petition, which has been pending since 2019 on the same issue. "Granting any relief in IA will amount to granting relief in the main petition which is pending," it underlined.
On May 17, the Supreme Court had requested a response from the EC within a week regarding the NGO's plea. The ADR had filed an interim application of its 2019 PIL, seeking directions to the poll panel to upload legible scanned copies of "Form 17C Part I (account of Votes recorded) from all polling stations immediately after the conclusion of each phase of the Lok Sabha elections.
