Chennai: Madras high court on Friday refused to entertain a PIL that sought a direction to the Election Commission (ECI) to implement a system where voters could get confirmation that their vote was cast through SMS on their mobile phones.Refusing to allow the petition, the first bench of Chief Justice Sushrut Arvind Dharmadhikari and Justice G Arul Murugan observed that the relief can be considered only for future elections and not for the current election. The Representation of the People Act prohibits any changes to the election process once it is commenced, the bench said.To this, counsel for the petitioner submitted that after the SIR process, ECI sent SMSs to voters, so the implementation of this process will not be a difficult task for the commission. “Once the election process is commenced, nothing can be changed thereafter. So, you have to wait. You can make a representation to the commission, and it will consider the implementation during the next election and not now,” the bench said.According to the petitioner, the Tamil Nadu Isai Vellalar Youth Welfare Association, whenever ration items are purchased, a gas cylinder is booked, or a bank transaction is made, an SMS is immediately sent to the beneficiary’s mobile phone to ensure transparency and accountability.Similarly, to prevent malpractices, a system should be implemented whereby a confirmation SMS is sent to their mobile phones immediately after people vote, the petitioner said. The association submitted that it has been requesting the ECI for the past two years to implement such a system. Although the commission initially said that the proposal was under consideration, no action has been taken since then, it added.Therefore, the association wanted the court to direct the ECI to take steps to implement the system in the upcoming election.
