Directing the EC to hear objections of voters during the revision, the court also sought a report in one week's time.
File photo: PTI
The Supreme Court on Friday issued notices to the Election Commission, the Union Law Ministry and the Telangana government about the decision to hastily revise the voter rolls in the state. A Bench comprising of Justices AK Sikri and Ashok Bhushan were hearing a petition filed by Congress leader Marri Shashidhar Reddy.
Directing the EC to hear objections of voters during the revision of rolls, the court also sought a report from the commission on allegations by the petitioner that there were defects in the names and details on existing voters rolls across Telangana and Andhra Pradesh.
The petition also requested the court to order the Centre to examine the feasibility of imposing President’s Rule under Article 356 of the Constitution for conducting free and fair polls.
Just last week, the Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) alleged that there were more than 30 lakh bogus voters in the electoral list being prepared for conducting early elections in the state. The party also demanded that the Election Commission make details of deletions and additions to the voters list from 2015 to 2018, public.
Speaking to reporters at Gandhi Bhavan, Marri Shashidhar Reddy pointed out data released by the Election Commission itself, which said that more than 17 lakh voters had sought to be included into the voter list in the state within one week.
The party also alleged discrepancies in the enrollment of voters. Citing the example of one house number in Hyderabad's Charminar constituency, Shashidhar claimed that 500 voters had been enrolled under that single address, asking the EC how it was taking action in such cases."How many more cases are there in the state? We have read reports of more than 100 votes being enrolled under one house. When such things are happening, how can we trust the voter enrollment?" the Congress leader asked.
Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao dissolved the state Assembly on September 6 to pave way for early elections. The elections are likely to be held in November or December.
While the TRS has released its list of candidates, opposition parties in the state including the TDP, Congress, TJS and CPI have formed a grand alliance.