ADR has flagged delay in release of final figures

The Supreme Court on Monday agreed to take up on May 17 a plea seeking directions to the Election Commission to disclose final authenticated data of voter turnout in all polling stations, including the number of votes polled in the ongoing Lok Sabha elections within 48 hours of the polling.

A Bench of Justice Sanjiv Khanna and Justice Dipankar Datta said the matter would be listed on Friday after advocate Prashant Bhushan mentioned it for urgent hearing on behalf of petitioner Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR). On May 10, the ADR had moved the top court for directions to the poll panel to disclose final authenticated data of voter turnout in all polling stations, including the number of votes polled in the ongoing Lok Sabha elections within 48 hours of the polling.

Inordinate delay in release of final voter turnout data have led to concern and public suspicion over correctness of the data, the ADR said.