SC seeks EC reply on voters’ limit

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday sought a response from the Election Commission of India on a public interest litigation challenging its decision to increase the maximum number of voters per polling station from 1,200 to 1,500.

A bench comprising Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna and Justice Sanjay Kumar asked poll panel’s counsel Maninder Singh to file a short affidavit explaining the rationale behind the decision.

Observing that it is concerned, the bench said no voter should be excluded. The apex court said, “Senior advocate Maninder Singh, appearing for the Election Commission, says on instruction that they will explain the position by way of a short affidavit. Let the affidavit be filed within a period of three weeks”.

The ECI said political parties are consulted in every constituency when the total number of voters is raised per EVM (electronic voting machine). The counsel said voters are always permitted to cast their votes even beyond the prescribed time.

The bench then listed the PIL in the week commencing January 27 and asked the ECI to provide a copy of its affidavit to the petitioner before the next date of hearing.

The PIL filed by Indu Prakash Singh challenged two communications issued by the EC in August increasing the number of voters per polling station in each constituency across India.top st

The petitioner contended that the decision to increase the number of voters per polling booth was arbitrary and not based on any data.