The Supreme Court on Friday declined an NGO's plea to direct the Election Commission (EC) to upload polling station-wise voter turnout data on its website during the ongoing Lok Sabha elections. The court emphasized the necessity of a "hands-off approach" during active elections.
A vacation bench of Justices Dipankar Datta and Satish Chandra Sharma stated that issuing such directions would be impractical as five phases of polling have already concluded and only two phases remain. Mobilizing the necessary manpower at this stage would be difficult for the poll panel, the bench noted.
The petition, filed by the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR), sought interim directions for the immediate upload of "scanned legible copies of Form 17C Part-I (Account of Votes Recorded)" from all polling stations. However, the Election Commission opposed the NGO's demand, arguing that it would "vitiate" the electoral environment and create "chaos" within the poll machinery. The commission also pointed out that there is no legal mandate to provide Form 17C to any person other than the candidate or their agent.
What is Form 17C?
Under the Conduct of Elections Rules, 1961, Form 17C records the votes cast at each polling station. This form includes:
- Polling station code number and name
- Number of voters (Form 17A)
- Number of voters who decided not to vote
- Number of voters not allowed to vote
- Number of votes recorded (data from EVMs)
- Number of votes rejected and reasons for rejection
- Number of votes accepted
- Data about postal ballots
Polling officials record this data, and it is checked by the presiding officer of each booth. The second part of Form 17C, related to the day of counting, records votes for each candidate. This ensures the total votes counted match the total votes polled, preventing vote manipulation. The observer at the counting center records this data, and each candidate or their representative must sign the form, which is then verified by the Returning Officer.
The Controversy
Concerns arose after delays in releasing voting figures for the initial phases of the elections. The Election Commission took ten days to release data for the first phase, while subsequent phases saw delays of four days each. Data for the fifth phase was released three days after voting.
Opposition leaders demanded the EC release this data within 48 hours of voting. The Congress party raised concerns about discrepancies between real-time voting data and final figures, claiming a significant difference of 1.07 crores, an unprecedented variation in election history.
The Supreme Court's refusal to intervene underscores the importance of maintaining the integrity and orderliness of the electoral process, leaving such operational decisions to the Election Commission's discretion.
