SC refuses urgent hearing on PIL seeking re-polling with ballot papers

The Supreme Court on Friday refused urgent hearing on a plea seeking the top court's direction to conduct fresh Lok Sabha polls using ballot paper. A vacation bench of the apex court presided by Justices Ajay Rastogi and Surya Kant denied an urgent hearing on the PIL filed by advocate Manohar Lal Sharma and asked him to approach the registrar for redressal of his prayers.

Sharma had on Thursday knocked the doors of the top court seeking its direction to conduct fresh Lok Sabha polls using ballot papers. In his petition, Sharma claimed that as per the Representation of Peoples (RP) Act, the elections can only be held using ballot papers, and it cannot use Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) for conducting the polls.

The petitioner sought a direction for cancellation of the recently held Lok Sabha polls saying the Election Commission did not have the power to hold elections using EVMs. In December last year, the top court had slapped a fine of Rs 50,000 on Sharma for filing a frivolous petition.

Sharma had filed a PIL seeking action against then Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and alleged that he wanted to "plunder" the capital reserve of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to waive off loans to certain companies.

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