New Delhi: The Supreme Court has decided to consider a plea raising the issue of duplicate entries in the electoral rolls.
The court directed that the plea by Samvidhan Bachao Trust should be served on standing counsel for the Election Commission of India (ECI).
A bench of Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud and Justices J B Pardiwala and Manoj Misra noted that the jurisdiction of this court under Article 32 of the Constitution has been invoked, inter alia, for ensuring that while the exercise of revising the electoral rolls is carried out in accordance with the Representation of People Act 1950, adequate steps are taken in regard to electors who have shifted or have died or where there are duplicate entries.
Senior advocate Meenakshi Arora, appearing on behalf of the petitioner, cited the communication of the Chief Electoral Officer, Uttar Pradesh that no steps have been taken for verification of duplicate entries.
“Before this Court decides to proceed in the matter, it would be appropriate if we direct that a copy of the Petition be served on Amit Sharma, Standing Counsel for the Election Commission of India,” the bench said in its order passed on November 10.
The bench fixed the matter for further hearing on November 28.
During the hearing, the petitioner’s counsel stressed that no concrete steps have been taken to tackle the issue of duplicate entries in the electoral rolls, and this issue should have been resolved between July and August this year but it was not done.
The bench asked the counsel to move before the Election Commission of India. However, the counsel insisted that the petitioner had made multiple representations before the ECI but to no avail.
(Published 11 November 2023, 15:56 IST)