SC to hear PIL against EC decision today

New Delhi: The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear a public interest litigation (PIL) challenging Election Commission's decision to increase the maximum number of voters per polling station from 1,200 to 1,500 on Monday. A bench of Chief Justice Sanjiv Khanna and Justice Sanjay Kumar will take up the PIL filed by one Indu Prakash Singh, who has challenged two communications issued by the Election Commission in August 2024 increasing the number of voters per polling stations in each constituency across India. Singh has contended that the decision to increase the number of voters per polling booth was arbitrary and not based on any data.

On October 24, the top court refused to issue any notice to the poll panel but allowed the petitioner to serve the copy to the standing counsel of the Election Commission so that its stand on the issue is known.

Senior advocate Abhishek Singhvi, appearing for the petitioner, contended that increasing the number of voters from 1,200 to 1,500 would lead to the exclusion of underprivileged groups from the electoral process as it will take a longer time for an individual to cast their franchise. He had also submitted that longer queues at the polling station and longer waiting periods would dissuade voters from going to cast their votes.

The bench, however, said that the poll panel wants more and more people to vote and with the use of EVMs, it takes a shorter time compared to ballot papers.