SC asks EC why it can't release electoral rolls in word format in poll-bound MP

The Supreme Court today asked the Election Commission of India (ECI) to apprise it about the reasons as to why it cannot release the electoral rolls in word format in poll-bound Madhya Pradesh as done in Rajasthan.

The poll panel reasoned that the electoral rolls were being given in PDF format rather than the word format so that no alteration could be done to it.

A bench of Justices A K Sikri and Ashok Bhushan asked the counsel for ECI to take instructions and apprise it as to why it cannot release the electoral rolls in word format like it is being done in Rajasthan.

During the hearing, senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi, appearing for Congress leader Kamal Nath, said they are unable to search names when electoral rolls are given in PDF format.

"We are one country and one electoral system. Question is when you can give it in Rajasthan, why can't you give in Madhya Pradesh?" he said.

Counsel for the poll panel said the All India Congress Committee (AICC), in which senior advocate Vivek Tankha was also present, had made a representation to the election commission and the panel had given a detailed reply to their representation.

The bench asked the poll panel counsel, "What is the problem in giving the electoral rolls in word format instead of PDF format?"
It posted the matter for further hearing on
On August 23, the apex court had agreed to examine the pleas filed by senior Congress leaders Kamal Nath and Sachin Pilot alleging duplication of names in the voters' lists of