Polls and Phones: Court to hear petition on allowing voters to carry phones

New Delhi (The Uttam Hindu): The Bombay High Court on Tuesday agreed to hear a petition requesting that general voters be permitted to carry mobile phones into polling stations and present their identity proof via the Digi Locker app. The petition was filed by Ujala Yadav, an advocate and a politically active member of the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena, ahead of the upcoming Maharashtra Assembly elections on November 20.

The bench, comprising Chief Justice DK Upadhyaya and Justice Amit Borkar, heard the plea for urgent consideration, citing the elections as the reason for prompt action. The court has directed the Election Commission's standing counsel to appear before it on November 18, when the petition will be formally heard. The petition argues that allowing election officers and staff to carry mobile phones, but not voters, violates Constitutional rights under Article 14, which guarantees equality. Yadav’s plea further contends that the current restriction causes inconvenience, particularly for senior citizens, women, and others who may have to vote alone, leading some to avoid voting altogether.

The Election Commission had issued a notification on June 14, 2023, restricting the use of mobile phones within a 100-meter radius of polling stations, allowing only authorized personnel, including election observers, to carry phones. In the petition, Yadav emphasized that mobile phones have become essential for communication and digital services. Not permitting voters to show soft copies of government-issued ID documents through the Digi Locker application, developed by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), is a violation of voters’ rights, the plea claims. According to government data, over 321 million people use the Digi Locker app, with more than 7.76 billion documents issued across various government departments.