Delhi: Petition filed in SC seeking investigation into Lok Sabha election results

A petition seeking a direction for the Election Commission (EC) to investigate the 17th Lok Sabha election results was filed in the Supreme Court on Wednesday. Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) and Common Cause alleged that various discrepancies took place in the vote count in Lok Sabha polls, which was the reason for filing the petition. The petitioner alleged that they weren't questioning the final results, which saw the BJP-led NDA government returning to power with a sweeping majority.

"However, the issues and irregularities that arose in the conduct of the election are being cited as arguments for seeking the prayers sought in the petition for effectuating free and fair elections, survival of democracy, and for the enforcement of fundamental rights," the petition stated.

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The petitioner also sought a direction to the poll body to conduct actual and accurate synthesis of data before declaring any final election result. The plea stated, "That in order to uphold and preserve the sanctity of elections, it is undeniably imperative that election results are accurate. The entire electoral process is damaged if elections are not credible even in the absence of a demonstrable scam."

The petition stated that it was filed to ensure that the democratic process was not subverted by electoral irregularities. A letter written by former IAS officer Kannan Gopinath to the Chief Election Commissioner was also cited in the petition. IAS officer Gopinath's letter pointed out loopholes and vulnerabilities in the use of VVPAT machines, which possibly made EVMs susceptible to potential hacking.

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Lok Sabha Polls 2019 

The 2019 Indian general election was held in seven phases from 11 April to 19 May 2019 to constitute the 17th Lok Sabha. The votes were counted and the result was declared on 23 May. About 900 million people were eligible to vote and voter turnout was over 67 per cent – the highest ever as well as the highest participation by women voters.

BJP become the single largest party in the House and surpassed expectations to win 303 seats, with its alliance partners bringing the NDA to a total of 353 seats. The counting of votes was held on 23 May 2019, and was completed early the following day. Initial returns showed the BJP leading in all 303 constituencies it eventually won, and opposition leader Rahul Gandhi conceded defeat prior to the official declaration of most results.

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(With inputs from ANI)