Top court seeks EC’s reply on PIL against increasing no. of voters per polling station

“File a short affidavit explaining the position…We are concerned that no voter should be troubled,” a Bench of Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna and Justice Sanjay Kumar told senior advocate Maninder Singh, who represented the Election Commission. The Bench, however, chose not to issue a formal notice to the poll panel.

“One polling station might have several polling booths, so would this (policy) apply to a single booth-polling station also?” the Bench wondered.

Maintaining that political parties were consulted in every constituency when the total number of voters was raised per EVM, Singh told the Bench that polling stations had been accommodating the increased number of voters since 2019. Voters were always permitted to cast their votes even beyond the prescribed time, he submitted.

Asking the Election Commission to provide a copy of its affidavit to be filed to the petitioner before the next date of hearing, the Bench posted the PIL for further hearing in the week commencing January 27, 2025.