The Madras High Court on Friday disposed of a petition from the DMK seeking to quash an order of the EC permitting the use of ‘authenticated photo voter slip’ as a valid identity document for casting vote.
The DMK, represented by it press relations secretary T.K.S. Elangovan, alleged that the order dated April 2, 2014, if allowed, would result in bogus voting and wanted the court to grant an interim injunction restraining the EC from permitting voters to use the slip.
A Division Bench of Justices M.M. Sundresh and S. Vimala said, “A matter like this has to be left to the discretion of the EC; admittedly the notification has also come into force. Therefore, we don’t go into the merits of the matter except by calling upon the EC to give a suitable reply to the representation…” The Bench then disposed of the plea.
According to the petitioner, the EC had framed guidelines to distribute Photo Voter Slips for registered voters and instructed all Chief Electoral Officers to distribute them to be used as a valid document for proof of identity.
It had sought to quash EC order permitting use of photo voter slip as valid document