NEWDELHI: The Supreme Court Friday dismissed petitions filed by senior Congress leaders Kamal Nath and Sachin Pilot over fake or duplicate identities in voter list for the upcoming Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan State Assembly elections.
A bench of justices A K Sikri and Ashok Bhushan dismissed the two separate petitions seeking directions to the Election Commission to provide the draft voter list in poll-bound Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan in text format. The bench had reserved its verdict after concluded the hearing of the pleas during which senior lawyers Kapil Sibal and Vikas Singh traded charges over conduct of the polls.
The two Congress leaders had also sought random verification of Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) machines in the two states.
The apex court had reserved its verdict on October 8 on the plea of leaders alleging duplication of voters in the list and sought a proper redressal of grievances to ensure free and fair elections.
It was alleged that as per a survey, in Madhya Pradesh there were over 60 lakh fake voters and similarly, in Rajasthan, there were over 41 lakh duplicate voters.
In Rajasthan, the poll panels have added 71 lakh new voters, the plea said, adding that directions be given to remove inconsistencies and conduct free and fair elections.
Polls in Madhya Pradesh will be held on November 28 and in Rajasthan on December 7.
Bureau Report
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