New Delhi:
The Supreme Court on Friday dismissed pleas of Congress leaders Kamal Nath and Sachin Pilot seeking directions to the Election Commission of India to provide the draft voters list in text format.
The Congress leaders had sought random verification of Voter verifiable paper audit trail (VVPAT) machines and the voters' lists in the text format ahead of the upcoming Assembly elections in Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan.
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The plea filed by Nath through advocate Varun Chopra said directions should be issued to publish the voters' lists in a "text format as per rules", instead of the PDF format, and expeditious decisions taken on all complaints before their final publication, according to a report published in the Indian Express.
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The Supreme Court on Monday had reserved its verdict on pleas of Nath and Pilot alleging duplication of voters in the voters' list in the poll-bound states. A bench of Justices AK Sikri and Ashok Bhushan concluded the hearing on the issue in which Election Commission had earlier claimed that attempts were being made to malign the poll panel and get favourable order by fabricating the documents. The apex court had on August 23, sought reply of poll panel on the petitions filed by Nath and Pilot.
Polls in Madhya Pradesh will be held on November 28 and in Rajasthan December 7.
