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The Supreme Court on Monday declined to examine a petition seeking to carry out the exercise of deleting the duplication/multiplication entries of voters' names from the voter lists but asked the petitioner to approach the high courts or file representations before appropriate authorities with his grievances.
A bench of Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna and Justice Sanjay Kumar however asked the petitioner to approach the high courts or file representations before appropriate authorities with his grievances. "We are not inclined to entertain this omnibus writ petition filed under Article 32 of the Constitution of India, as there will be local as well as State-wise issues involved," the top court said. "It will be open to the petitioner, Rashtrawadi Adarsh Mahasangh, to make a representation with specific details and approach the authorities and then, if required and necessary, the jurisdictional High Court", the top court said. The petitioner Rashtrawadi Adarsh Mahasangh, a registered political outfit, represented through advocates Avadh Bihari Kaushik, Saloni Mahajan, Prateek Goyal and Vikas Nangwan has sought to carry out the exercise of deleting the duplication/multiplication entries of voters' names from the voter lists, as mandated by Section 22 of the Representation of People Act, 1950 and letter dated August 11, 2023, issued by the Election Commission of India, immediately and in any case, within a period of thirty (30) days. It also sought to call for the entire record of the duplicate/multiple entries of voters' names in the voter lists maintained by the respondents, for perusal. It also urged the top court to issue directions for constituting a Special Investigating Team (SIT) headed by a Retired Judge of the court to probe into the cases of bulk duplication/multiplication entries of voters' names in the voter lists inserted in an organized and calculated manner and to supervise the exercise of correcting the voter lists by deleting the names of voters entered into the voter-lists, in terms of letter dated August 11, 2023, issued by the Election Commission of India and thereafter, to submit a report to this Hon'ble Court for further action/direction. The petitioner said that it wants to bring to the notice of the Court, a menace of duplication and multiplication of voter-I -cards and entries in voter lists and such cases are not one or few but are in thousands and perhaps in lakhs all over India, which is polluting, maligning and defiling the most sacred and celebrated festival of Indian democracy i.e. 'elections' creating ~the entire election process as doubtful and ultimately damaging and weakening the very foundation of the democracy but, despite there being requisite statutory provisions in place and despite representation having been made by the petitioner, the concerned authorities/respondents herein have failed to take remedial steps and corrective measures and hence, immediate interference of the court is warranted. "The elections in India, be it for Lok Sabha, State Legislative Assemblies or any other local bodies, Corporations, Panchayats etc., are held every five years unless a mid-term poll is forced upon due to compelling circumstances and such elections in a country like India, having largest population and largest number of voters in the world, are, without doubt, a stupendous blockbuster of democracy, a celebration of argumentative Indians and a veritable feast of pomp and polemics. Above all, the elections, based on universal adult franchise, is a great leveller in so far as all adult Indians above 18, be it a celebrity billionaire or an anonymous penniless bard, have one vote each to decide the fate of their aspiring rulers," the petitioner said. (ANI)
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