The Supreme Court on Monday issued notice to the Central government and the Election Commission on a PIL seeking implementation of biometric and face recognition identification of voters before voting. This petition has been filed by BJP leader Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay.
A bench of Chief Justice (CJI) Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi sought response from the Election Commission and the Center on the matter. The court also said that implementing such a system would require changes in rules and could impose a huge financial burden on the government exchequer.
During the hearing, Upadhyay himself appeared in the court and said that the cooperation of the states will also be necessary to implement this system. Initially the court advised him to first approach the Election Commission and was not in favor of issuing a notice.
What was said in the petition?
This petition has been filed by advocate Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay. The petition said problems like bribery, undue influence, fake identities, duplicate voting and ghost voting are still affecting the sanctity and fairness of the election process, causing widespread harm to citizens. Now the Supreme Court will hear further in this matter after receiving the replies of the Centre, Election Commission and the concerned states.
What did the bench ask the Election Commission to clarify?
The bench said that first the Election Commission should clarify its stand on this. If the states do not cooperate or the Finance Ministry does not approve the budget, then the court can be approached.
However, later the court agreed to hear the case. The court clarified that this system cannot be implemented in the upcoming elections, but it can be considered for future Lok Sabha or Assembly elections. The court finally said that the issue needed to be examined to see whether such a procedure could be adopted in future elections.