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Time of India
9 hours ago
- Politics
- Time of India
PIL in SC seeks SIT probe into Rahul Gandhi's allegations of electoral roll theft in Karnataka
A petition has been filed in the Supreme Court seeking a probe by a special investigation team (SIT) headed by a former judge to inquire into the allegations raised by Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi of large-scale electoral roll manipulation. Advocate and Congress member Rohit Pandey filed the plea citing the allegations levelled by Gandhi on August 7 regarding electoral-roll manipulation in Bengaluru Central and other constituencies. He placed reliance on Gandhi's press conference of August 7 in which he alleged manipulation of electoral rolls of the Mahadevapura assembly constituency in Bengaluru. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Do you have a mouse? Desert Order Undo The plea has also sought directions to the frame and issue binding guidelines to the Election Commission of India to ensure transparency, accountability, and integrity in the preparation, maintenance, and publication of electoral rolls, including mechanisms for detection and prevention of duplicate or fictitious entries. It asked for no further revision or finalisation of electoral rolls be undertaken until compliance with the court's directions and completion of an independent audit of the rolls. Live Events The petition also sought directions to the ECI to publish electoral rolls in accessible, machine-readable and OCR-compliant formats to enable meaningful verification, audit and public scrutiny. "Upon coming across credible revelations, including a press conference dated August 7, 2025 by the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, alleging large-scale manipulation of genuine voters' names, and inclusion of fictitious entries in the electoral rolls of the Mahadevapura Assembly Constituency (falling within the Bengaluru Central Parliamentary Constituency), the petitioner became gravely concerned, as such actions, if true, strike at the core of the "one person, one vote" principle enshrined under Articles 325 and 326 of the Constitution," the petition stated. It further claimed, "The material disclosed in the press conference includes extracts from the electoral roll, showing identical names in multiple polling parts; and entries linked to non-existent or commercial addresses and other forms of manipulation. Independent citizen verification reportedly confirmed the bogus and duplicate entries." The petitioner said that after independently verifying the authenticity of these reports through publicly available government data, he found sufficient prima facie material to establish that the allegations reveal a systemic attempt to dilute and distort the value of lawful votes, thereby necessitating urgent intervention of the Supreme Court.
NDTV
17 hours ago
- Politics
- NDTV
Set Up Team To Probe Rahul Gandhi's Vote Theft Claims: Petition In Top Court
New Delhi: A plea has been filed in the Supreme Court seeking the constitution of a special investigation team headed by a former judge to inquire into allegations of electoral roll manipulation in Bengaluru Central and other affected constituencies and cited the August 7 press conference by Rahul Gandhi where he presented data to buttress these claims. The plea also sought the top court's direction that no further revision or finalisation of electoral rolls be undertaken until compliance with the court's directions and the completion of an independent audit of the rolls. The petition, filed by advocate Rohit Pandey, referred to the August 7 press conference by Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Gandhi where he had made explosive claims of a "huge criminal fraud" in polls through "collusion" between the BJP and the Election Commission and had cited an analysis of voter rolls in a constituency in Karnataka last year. Soon after Mr Gandhi levelled the charge asserting that "vote chori" (vote theft) is an "atom bomb on our democracy", the Chief Electoral Officers of Karnataka and Maharashtra had asked the former Congress chief to share names of electors he claimed were "wrong" in the voters' list along with a signed declaration for poll authorities to initiate "necessary proceedings" in the matter. On August 17, Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar had said Mr Gandhi should either give a declaration under oath within seven days on his allegations of irregularities in the voter list, or else his 'vote theft' claims would be rendered baseless and invalid. The plea filed in the top court has urged the court to issue binding guidelines to the Election Commission to ensure transparency, accountability and integrity in the preparation, maintenance and publication of electoral rolls, including mechanisms for detection and prevention of duplicate or fictitious entries. It also sought a direction to the EC to publish electoral rolls in accessible, machine-readable and OCR-compliant formats to enable meaningful verification, audit and public scrutiny. "The petitioner has observed grave irregularities in the electoral rolls of Bengaluru Central Parliamentary Constituency (Mahadevapura Assembly Constituency), which, on the face of it, warrant urgent consideration by this court," the plea said. It said that the intervention by the top court was essential to uphold and preserve the sanctity of the Constitution, which could only be effectively ensured by the court. The plea claimed that in Maharashtra, after the 2024 Lok Sabha elections and prior to the Assembly elections, within a span of around four months, about 39 lakh new voters were added to the electoral roll, whereas in the preceding five years, only around 50 lakh voters were added. "Such a sudden and disproportionate increase raises a serious question on the transparency of the Election Commission in the process of addition of names to the voter list," the plea said. It said the top court has consistently held that free and fair elections constitute part of the 'basic structure' of the Constitution and cannot be diluted or subverted by any legislative or executive action. (Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
New Indian Express
19 hours ago
- Politics
- New Indian Express
PIL in Supreme Court seeks SIT probe into Rahul Gandhi's 'vote theft' allegations
NEW DELHI: A Public Interest Litigation (PIL) has been filed in the Supreme Court by advocate and Congress member Rohit Pandey, seeking the constitution of a Special Investigation Team (SIT) headed by a former judge to probe the alleged large-scale manipulation of electoral rolls in Mahadevapura Assembly constituency in Bengaluru Central and other constituencies during the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. Speaking to TNIE, Pandey said his petition, which he described as 'very sensitive' and concerning 'voters, fake voters,' could come up for hearing in the apex court within a week. He moved the court citing allegations made by Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi at a press conference on August 7. In his petition, a copy of which was accessed by TNIE, Pandey also sought directions that no further revision or finalisation of electoral rolls be undertaken until the Court's orders are complied with and an independent audit of the rolls is completed. "Frame and issue binding guidelines to the Election Commission of India to ensure transparency, accountability, and integrity in the preparation, maintenance, and publication of electoral rolls, including mechanisms for detection and prevention of duplicate or fictitious entries," Pandey stated in his petition. He further requested that the Supreme Court direct the Election Commission of India (ECI) to publish electoral rolls in accessible, machine-readable and OCR-compliant formats to enable meaningful verification, audit and public scrutiny. "What is at stake here is not the outcome of a single electoral contest, but the integrity and credibility of the electoral roll itself, the bedrock upon which the entire democratic process stands. When the electoral roll is corrupted by wrongful deletions and fraudulent insertions, the right to vote ceases to be equally accessible to all citizens, undermining the constitutional promise of universal adult suffrage," Pandey argued. The petition noted that the PIL was prompted by 'serious allegations of electoral roll manipulation' in Mahadevapura, which is part of the Bengaluru Central Lok Sabha constituency in Karnataka. The allegations made by Gandhi relate to the deletion of thousands of legitimate voters' names and the inclusion of fictitious or duplicate entries, allegedly with the involvement of political operatives and local officials. "The material disclosed in the press conference includes extracts from the electoral roll, showing identical names in multiple polling parts; and entries linked to non-existent or commercial addresses and other forms of manipulation. Independent citizen verification reportedly confirmed the bogus and duplicate entries," the plea said. Pointing to what it called severe lacunae in the functioning of the ECI, the plea contended that such large-scale tampering, if proven, would undermine the constitutional mandate of 'one person, one vote' under Articles 325 and 326, dilute the value of lawful votes, and violate the principles of equality and due process.
Mint
19 hours ago
- Politics
- Mint
‘Vote Chori' Row: PIL in SC seeks SIT probe into Rahul Gandhi's allegations against EC
A public interest litigation has been filed in the Supreme Court seeking an SIT probe into the 'vote chori' allegations made by Rahul Gandhi against the BJP and Election Commission (EC). The PIL, filed by a lawyer, advocate Rohit Pandey, seeks directions from the Supreme Court to construct a Special Investigation Team (SIT) and look into the accusations made by the Leader of Opposition (LoP) at the Lok Sabha in recent days. Gandhi has alleged that there has been a large-scale electoral roll manipulation in Bengaluru Central and several other constituencies during Lok Sabha elections. "Upon coming across credible revelations, including a press conference dated 07.08.2025 by the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Mr. Rahul Gandhi, alleging large-scale manipulation of genuine voters' names, and inclusion of fictitious entries in the electoral rolls of the Mahadevapura Assembly Constituency (falling within the Bengaluru Central Parliamentary Constituency), the Petitioner became gravely concerned, as such actions, if true, strike at the core of the "one person, one vote" principle enshrined under Articles 325 and 326 of the Constitution," the plea states. The petitioner further said that upon independently verifying the authenticity of the reports cited through publicly available government data, it was found that there was sufficient prima facie material indicating that the allegations reveal a systemic attempt to dilute and distort the value of lawful votes. It therefore sought an urgent intervention from the Supreme Court. 'The allegations of dilution of the purity of electoral rolls directly undermines the constitutional vision of free and fair elections in the eyes of the community at large,' it says. The plea also urges the SC to give directions to frame and issue binding guidelines to the Election Commission to ensure transparency, accountability and integrity in the preparation, maintenance and publication of electoral rolls, including mechanisms for detection and prevention of duplicate or fictitious entries. It also sought a direction to the EC to publish electoral rolls in accessible, machine-readable and OCR-compliant formats to enable meaningful verification, audit and public scrutiny.
