“Hands-off approach has to be taken”: Supreme Court refuses to direct ECI to Disclose Voter Turnout Data Amidst Lok Sabha Elections

The Supreme Court of India on Friday declined to issue an interim order directing the Election Commission to publish final voter turnout data, including the actual number of votes cast at each polling booth and upload the form 17 C records of votes polled on its website within 48 hours of polling in the ongoing 2024 Lok Sabha Elections.

A bench of Justices Dipankar Datta and Satish Chandra Sharma expressed their reluctance to interfere in the ongoing electoral process, especially at a time when 5 phases of polling have been conducted and only 2 remain. "In between elections, hands-off approach has to be taken. Let the application be heard along with the main writ petition. We cannot interrupt the process. Let us have some trust in the authority," said Justice Datta.

The Supreme Court adjourned the interim application filed by the ADR until after the elections, stating that the requests seemed similar to those in the ongoing main petition since 2019. Additionally, the bench acknowledged the Election Commission's challenge in allocating manpower to upload voter turnout data on its website, especially after five phases of polling. They decided to schedule the interim plea after the summer break.

"The arguments on the interim application were heard. Prima facie we are not inclined to grant any relief on the interim application at this stage in view of the similarities of the prayer (a) of the interim application with prayer (b) of the writ petition out of which the Interim Application arises. The grant of relief in the interim application would amount to the grant of final relief. Relist the application together with the writ petitions before the appropriate bench after vacations. We have not expressed any opinion on merits except the prima facie view indicated above,” said the Supreme Court in its order.

On May 17, the Supreme Court raised concerns about the Election Commission's delay in promptly uploading data on its website. Chief Justice DY Chandrachud and Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra directed the matter to be listed before a vacation bench on May 24, urging the ECI to submit an affidavit explaining why Form 17C data couldn't be disclosed immediately. The court had previously requested a response from the Election Commission within a week following a plea from the ADR.

The ADR's plea, part of its 2019 PIL, sought directives for the poll panel to upload scanned copies of Form 17C Part-I, detailing the votes recorded at all polling stations, right after the elections. This move by the ADR was prompted by the controversy surrounding the Election Commission's significant revision of voter turnout figures for the initial two phases of the ongoing Lok Sabha elections, compared to the initial estimates released on polling days.

Following the Supreme Court’s directive, the Election Commission in an affidavit on Wednesday contested the release of final voter turnout figures for all polling stations, arguing that there's no legal obligation and expressing concerns about potential "exploitation." The ECI explained that sharing voter turnout data derived from Form 17C, which includes postal ballot counts, might lead to confusion.​