Supreme Court to examine plea for biometric verification in voting process
Bench says proposal cannot apply to ongoing polls but may be considered for future elections
The Supreme Court of India on Monday agreed to hear a petition seeking the introduction of biometric identification at polling stations to curb electoral malpractices.
A bench comprising Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and justice Joymalya Bagchi issued notice on the plea, which calls for the use of fingerprint and iris-based systems to prevent duplicate and fraudulent voting.
The court, however, clarified that such measures could not be implemented for the ongoing Assembly elections in several states. It indicated that the proposal would instead be examined for possible adoption in future electoral exercises, including parliamentary and state polls.
The petition, filed by advocate Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay, argues that existing safeguards are insufficient to prevent irregularities such as impersonation, bribery and multiple voting.
According to the plea, these practices continue to undermine the integrity of the electoral process and result in significant harm to citizens by compromising the fairness of elections.
The court has sought responses from the central government, the Election Commission of India and several state authorities before proceeding further with the matter.
With PTI inputs