Privacy and the Press
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The Supreme Court on Monday sought a response from the Election Commission explaining its decision to increase the number of voters per polling booth from 1,200 to 1,500.
Without issuing a formal notice, a bench of Chief Justice Sanjiv Khanna and Justice Sanjay Kumar asked the poll panel to file a short affidavit explaining its decision of increasing 300 voters per polling booth to the earlier 1200 voters.
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The Supreme Court was hearing the PIL challenging the poll panel’s communications whereby the maximum number of electors per polling station had been increased from 1200 to 1500.
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Senior advocate Maninder Singh, appearing for Election Commission told the bench that the number was raised to 1,500 in 2019 and no grievance was raised up until now.
“Political parties are consulted for every booth before it is decided,” the senior advocate told the bench.
Social activist Indu Prakash Singh has moved the top court seeking directions that the number of electors per polling booth be retained at 1,200 as was followed from 1957 to 2016, and that the number of polling stations be increased to a sufficient number as per the mandate under Section 25 of the Representation of People Act.
The petitioner Indu Prakash Singh has challenged the EC’s August 7 and 23, 2024 communications to the extent that the number of electors at each polling station in each constituency has been increased.
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