The Kerala High Court has sought the views of the Election Commission of India (ECI) on a petition moved by Leader of the Opposition Ramesh Chennithala seeking action against what he alleged as large scale enrolment of double/bogus votes in the electoral roll published for the election to the Assembly.
The case was originally scheduled before the Division Bench headed by Chief Justice Manikumar. However, a Bench consisting of Justice C.T. Ravikumar and Justice Murali Purushothaman considered the case on the day as the Chief Justice was on leave on Friday.
In his petition, Mr. Chennithala submitted that the commission was being grossly lethargic towards the complaint and shying away from rectifying the issue of large scale double/bogus votes in the electoral roll.
Asif Ali, the counsel for the Opposition leader, submitted that the commission had admitted that large number of fake/multiple votes were illegally enrolled in the electoral rolls. It had been found that 4,34,042 fake/multiple entry votes were added to the list of voters in as many as 131 Assembly constituencies. The fake/multiple entry voters should be restrained from participating in the poll and criminal action launched against those who were responsible for the fake/multiple entries, he submitted.
Thousands of complaints on the double votes, fake entries in the electoral rolls, illegal enrolment of voters and issuance of multiple identity card had reached the commission after the publication of the final electoral rolls on January 20, 2021, he submitted.
A comprehensive inquiry carried out with the assistance an expert committee brought to light large scale entry of double votes, fake entries and enrolment of single voter in many booths in various constituencies. It was also revealed that the commission had issued identity cards to these voters, he submitted.
He further submitted that there were several instances where voters were enrolled in different constituencies in different names. The real number of such fake and multiple entries made in the list would be huge, he submitted.
The manipulations, submitted Mr. Chennithala, were not isolated acts of any individuals. A section of the government employees might be behind the misfeasance with the motive to manipulate the voters’ list and to make undue political advantage in the ensuing Assembly polls, he submitted.
