Chennai: The Election Commission has submitted in the Madras High Court that addition and deletion of names in voters list is a continuous process and will go on till the last date of withdrawal of nominations of candidates.
The poll panel gave the affidavit on a petition by DMK seeking appointment of Central government officials as electoral registration officers and booth-level officers, as it apprehended large-scale inclusion of and deletion of names in the voters list.
Counsel for DMK P Wilson submitted that the EC has not correctly handled preparation of voters list. At least 25,000 bogus voters still exist in each constituency which is going to be a deciding factor in the coming elections, he contended.
Additional Solicitor General G Rajagopalan, who appeared on behalf of the EC, submitted, "Before the poll, a list of absent, shifted and dead electors would be prepared and sent to the respective polling stations and all such identified persons till five days before the poll are brought to the list."
Even on the polling day, agents of candidates can challenge and verify the genuineness of the voters and prevent impersonation at the time of poll, he submitted.
When the consul for DMK submitted that the ink blot on the finger can be rubbed and removed, the first bench comprising Chief Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Justice M M Sundresh, in its order, said, "All that we would like to say in this behalf is that the EC can look into this aspect" and closed the proceedings.
Making it clear that it is not the function of the court to interfere with the working of the Election Commission, which is an independent body with best reputation to carry out the electoral process fairly, the judges said, "We want to make it clear that though the jurisdiction of the court over the EC exists, we have no doubt that every endeavour will be made by the EC to uphold its own reputation and see to it that a fair and transparent elections are held in Tamil Nadu."
"We are emphasising here that we would not like to encourage repeated monitoring of the electoral process on aspects which are to be dealt with by the EC unless some violation of any normal law is specifically pointed out to us. This is also a caution for other litigants who may be contemplating filing of petitions," the judges said.
