New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday dismissed a plea seeking the constitution of a special probe team headed by a former judge to probe allegations of massive voter roll rigging in the Mahadevpura assembly constituency of Bengaluru Central and other affected constituencies of the country.
The matter came up for hearing before a bench of Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi. The petition cited allegations levelled by Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi at a press conference on August 7, 2025. During the hearing, the bench said it was not willing to entertain the petition filed by Supreme Court lawyer and Congress party member Rohit Pandey.
The bench said it was not willing to entertain the writ petition which was allegedly filed in public interest. However, the bench said that the petitioner has the freedom to raise the issue before the Election Commission if it deems fit.
The petitioner’s counsel argued that a representation was submitted before the Election Commission but it was not considered and no action was taken. After hearing the arguments, the bench decided to dismiss the petition and asked the petitioner to take appropriate measures under the law. The petition said that the stake here is not the result of a single electoral contest, but the integrity and credibility of the electoral roll, on which the entire democratic process rests. The petition further states that, when the electoral roll is tainted by wrongful removal and fraudulent addition of names, the right to vote is not equally accessible to all citizens, thereby deflicating the constitutional promise of universal adult suffrage.
The petition has also sought a direction to the Election Commission that no further amendments or finalization will be made in the electoral rolls until the court’s directions are followed and the independent audit of the electoral rolls is completed.
