Chennai: The Madras High Court has dismissed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) seeking directions to the Election Commission of India (ECI) to respond to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s allegations of large-scale voter list manipulation during the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, stating that the plea lacked concrete material and was based only on allegations and counter-allegations made on certain platforms.
The PIL, filed by advocate V. Venkata Sivakumar, was heard by a bench comprising Chief Justice M.M. Shrivatsava and Justice G. Arul Murugan. The court imposed costs of Rs 1 lakh on the petitioner, payable to the Tamil Nadu State Legal Services Authority, and noted that the ECI was free to take its own decisions on the matter.
The plea followed Rahul Gandhi’s PowerPoint presentation in which the Leader of Opposition accused the Election Commission of “allowing vote theft” during the 2024 general elections by adding fake voters to rolls in states such as Karnataka and Maharashtra to benefit the ruling party.
Sivakumar had urged the court to direct the ECI to make available constituency-wise electoral roll data in a machine-readable format, along with a detailed report of inquiries, audits and measures taken in response to the allegations, to uphold transparency and public confidence in the electoral process.
Dismissing the petition, the bench said it was vague, devoid of material particulars, and misconceived in its demand for the ECI to “clarify its position.