Can wait for election to get over! SC declines to direct ECI to publish poll data on website

The Supreme Court on Friday rejected to pass any direction on a plea that asked for the publishing of booth-by-booth voter participation statistics and the uploading of Form 17C data to the Election Commission of India website immediately.

A panel consisting of Justices Dipankar Dutta and Satish Chandra Sharma refused to grant any interim relief to petitioners saying it could not interrupt the polls.

Supreme Court declines to grant any interim relief on application seeking uploading of Form 17C data on Election Commission of India website and publication of booth-wise voter turnout data.

Supreme Court says it cannot interrupt the polls. pic.twitter.com/vLCHozH4ia

— ANI (@ANI) May 24, 2024

The petition demanded that copies of Form 17C be uploaded on the ECI website. While giving the verdict, the Supreme Court said that now the sixth phase of elections is going to be held on Saturday. Now this matter should be heard after the elections. It is worth noting that this case was filed in the Supreme Court by an NGO Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR). A petition filed by Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra in the year 2019 was also heard.

Here’s what the Supreme Court said:

According to the sources, Justice Dutta during the hearing said, '5 phases of elections have been held. Tomorrow is the sixth phase of elections. People will be needed only for this work. We should think about the ground reality. We feel that we should hear it after vacation.”
Responding to this, Abhishek Manu Singhvi said that the issue has been raised since 2019. If the decision is not taken now, then it will be a delay.

The Supreme Court bench has also said that the points written in the interim application are similar to the main writ petition filed in the year 2019. Relief cannot be sought even in the interim application, hence both cases will be heard together. Justice Dutta said that a practical approach will have to be adopted between elections. The application should be heard along with the main petition. We should not disrupt the process. We should have some trust in authority.

Why does the Election Commission not want to make the data public?

The Election Commission had opposed the petition and said that there is no legal right to such a demand that the common man should have information about Form 17C.