Supreme Court Rejects Plea to Stop Ballot Paper Use in Punjab Local Polls

The Supreme Court has officially cleared the path for the upcoming Punjab local body elections, refusing to entertain a last-minute plea that challenged the use of traditional ballot papers instead of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs). A bench led by Chief Justice Surya Kant, along with Justices Joymalya Bagchi and Vipul M. Pancholi, made it clear that the court would not intervene so close to the polling date.

The petition, filed by Ruchita Garg, sought to stop the Punjab State Election Commission's decision to switch to ballot papers for the municipal corporations, councils, and nagar panchayats. However, the court questioned the timing of the request, noting that with elections scheduled for tomorrow, May 26, there is simply no time left to make such a massive change without destabilizing the entire process.

During the hearing, the court noted that the petitioner was well aware of the election schedule and that several rounds of litigation had already taken place. The bench remarked that the petitioner did not need to wait for the formal notification to raise these concerns. Furthermore, the court declined the request to appoint an observer for the elections, calling it a serious interdiction that they were not prepared to authorize.

The legal battle moved to the Supreme Court after the Punjab and Haryana High Court previously dismissed the challenge. The State Election Commission explained that the switch to ballot papers was a necessity, as the Election Commission had failed to provide the required EVMs according to the pre-decided schedule.

With this legal hurdle cleared, polling for 104 municipal bodies, including eight major municipal corporations across Punjab, will proceed as planned on May 26. Citizens can expect the final results soon after, as the counting of votes is set to take place on May 29.

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