Book those who added ‘bogus’ voters: Madras HC

Disposing a plea moved by the DMK that after verification of the list uploaded in the website on November 21, 2017, there still exists about 5,117 voters to be deleted, a division bench comprising Justice T S Sivagnanam and Justice K Ravichandrabaabu said, “These figures undoubtedly shock our judicial conscience as the total number of voters deleted so far itself is very high.”

Also holding that even a single vote may change the result, the bench said, “The punishment against those persons responsible for this must be severe in nature even to an extent of banning them from voting or contesting the election permanently forever.” The bench also appreciated the steps taken by the petitioner (DMK) in setting the electoral roll in order.

On the case in hand, the bench directed the authorities to strictly follow the instructions issued by the Chief Election Commissioner in respect of the disputed voters by making notable mark or affixing seal with prominence against these voters in the electoral rolls and circulating the same to all polling stations. This apart, the same should be supplied to all contestants and the polls held in a free and fair manner, the bench said.

Earlier, Senior counsel P. Wilson, who had appeared for DMK, had said that the statement made by the EC before this court while hearing the writ petition was untrue while ECI’s counsel Niranjan Rajagopal had submitted that when electoral process has already commenced and in view of the express constitutional bar, no petition can be entertained by any court of law.