BY. UNIBA GHAZI

On Friday, chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud, heading the division bench ( 3 judge bench ) questioned why the EC was not uploading the data from the Form 17C prepared by the presiding officer after the polling being conducted ever evening. The Supreme Court demanded an explanation from the election commission (EC) regarding its failure to upload the scanned, legible and verified accounts of voters on time, that is recorded booth-wise after each round of polling in the Lok Sabha elections.

PHOTO CREDIT BY. BUSINESS STANDARD

The bench’s inquiry followed an application by the NGO Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR), represent by Advocates Neha Rathi, Cheryl D’Souza and Prshant Bhushan. The NGO claimed notable delays in publishing the voters turnout data for the first two rounds of polling and raised concerns over a abrupt rise in turnout figures. This delay and unexpected difference in voters turnout percentages have increased the public suspicion about the authenticity of polling Data and the honesty of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs).

Senior Advocate Maninder Singh, representing the EC, cited the Supreme Court judgment from April 26 that had considerably addressed EVN security and election conduct, including Form 17C. He confronted that the application was an attempt to spoil the ongoing General Elections, which has already seen four rounds of polling.

The court scheduled the next hearing on 24th May, just before the sixth round of polling after finding the EC’s request for more time to give the proper answer responsibly. ADR’s petition noted that the EC’s voter turnout data for the first two rounds, released on April 30, showed a drastic increase of about 5-6% from commencing figures. This delay, combined with the lack of detailed voting public and polling station data, have increased the concerns about the data accuracy. The case continues as the people anticipate clarity on these inconsistency.