New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday (January 31) directed the Election Commission of India (ECI) to ensure that video recordings of the polling are not erased during the pendency of the pleas challenging the ECI’s decision by which the maximum number of electors per polling station have been increased from 1200 to 1500.
A bench comprising Chief Justice of India (CJI) Sanjiv Khanna and Justice Sanjay Kumar was hearing a plea filed by one Indu Prakash Singh challenging the poll panel’s communications increasing the number of voters per polling stations in each constituency, submitting that the decision by the poll panel to increase the number of voters per polling booth was arbitrary and not based on any data.
Please ensure that video recordings of the polling are not erased, apex court directed
“Please ensure that video recordings of the polling are not erased during the pendency of the matter. We are recording this,” CJI Khanna said.
The counsel representing the ECI sought some more time to file affidavit in the matter and the bench granted it three weeks of time for the same.
“We find it appropriate to direct that the respondent shall maintain the CCTV of the recordings as maintained earlier,” the bench said.
Apex court is seized of several pleas against amendment
The top court is seized of a batch of pleas challenging the decision of the ECI, which made an amendment to the Conduct of Election Rules, 1961 by which the public inspection of election papers has been limited to only those documents specified in the provisions.
The top court earlier issued notice to the ECI on Congress leader Jairam Ramesh’s plea challenging the ECI’s decision.
Apex Court is also seized of plea seeking to lay down a policy for verification of EVMs
Congress leader and former Haryana minister Karan Singh Dalal have also filed a plea before the top court seeking to lay down a policy for the verification of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs). Dalal, along with another Congress leader and Lakhan Kumar Singla, had moved the top court seeking verification and checking of EVMs used in the recently-concluded Haryana assembly elections and compliance of top court’s earlier judgement in the case of ‘Association for Democratic Reforms v. Union of India’ .
A bench recently directed to place the Congress leaders’ plea before the CJI-led bench along with similar petitions.
