New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday agreed to examine the feasibility of introducing biometric authentication and facial recognition for voters. The top court has issued notice to the Centre and the Election Commission on a public interest litigation (PIL) seeking electoral reforms, reported HT.
A bench comprising Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi observed that the plea raises important issues concerning the “purity of the electoral process” and requires consideration. However, the court made it clear that such measures cannot be implemented for ongoing elections and would only be examined for future polls.
“The prayers cannot be considered for the upcoming elections. But whether such a recourse deserves to be followed for next parliamentary elections or State polls needs to be examined. Issue notice,” the bench said, according to reports.
“ECI needs to give us a reply and if State does not help or finance ministry does not pass budget then again we can be approached. But issuing notice at this stage is not needed,” Bar and Bench quoted the judges.
The petition, filed by advocate Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay, seeks the use of fingerprint, iris-based biometric systems and facial recognition at polling booths to curb electoral malpractices such as impersonation, duplicate voting and the presence of “ghost voters.”
During the hearing, the court noted that implementing such a system would not be a simple administrative exercise. It flagged that changes to the existing legal framework would be required and that the proposal could involve a significant financial burden.
The bench initially expressed reluctance to entertain the plea, suggesting that the petitioner first approach the ECI. However, it later agreed to examine the matter after being informed that the proposal was not intended for immediate implementation but for consideration in future elections.
The court has now sought responses from the Centre and the ECI on the feasibility, legality and administrative implications of introducing biometric voter verification.
The plea argues that existing voter identification mechanisms remain vulnerable due to outdated records and lack of real-time verification, and that biometric authentication could ensure the principle of “one citizen, one vote” while improving transparency in the electoral process.
