supreme court of india Agreeing Monday to review a request to implement finger- and iris-based biometrics at polling stations to curb duplication and fraudulent voting.A bench headed by Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi issued a notice to the Centre, election commission of indiaand several states, seeking their response on the matter.However, the court made it clear that such a step cannot be taken during the ongoing state assembly elections.
Court to review proposals for future polls
“There is a need to examine whether such resort should be resorted to before the next assembly elections and/or state assembly elections,” the bench said while issuing the notice, news agency PTI reported.The plea filed by advocate Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay calls for the installation of biometric systems at polling stations to prevent electoral fraud such as impersonation and double voting.The petition argued that issues such as “bribery, undue influence, impersonation, double voting and ghost voting” continue to affect the “purity and integrity of the electoral process.”The development comes amid ongoing debate over electoral reforms, with courts now set to consider whether technological interventions such as biometric verification can be incorporated into India’s voting process ahead of future elections.
