The Supreme Court bench of Chief Justice of India (CJI) Sanjiv Khanna, Justice Sanjay Kumar and Justice KV Viswanathan, directed the Election Commission of India (ECI) to examine concerns over the publication of final voter turnout data and the disclosure of Form 17C, which records votes polled at each booth.

The court allowed petitioners, Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) and Trinamool Congress (TMC) MP Mahua Moitra, to submit their representations to the newly appointed Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar within ten days.

The petitioners had raised concerns over discrepancies between the initial voter turnout announced on polling day and the final figures released later, with the ADR alleging that the delay and changes in numbers created doubts about the accuracy of the data.

Senior Advocate AM Singhvi appearing for Moitra and Advocate Prashant Bhushan argued that publishing Form 17C data was essential for transparency, allowing a clear "macro-view" of the election process.

Senior Advocate Maninder Singh, appearing for the ECI, informed the Supreme Court that the newly appointed Chief Election Commissioner, Gyanesh Kumar, is open to discussing the petitioners' concerns.

He also highlighted that on the day of the polling, no phones or internet are available at the polling booth and the polling count is documented under Form 17C and handed over to the political agents of each candidate/party present at the end of the polling and making immediate online publication is unfeasible.

The Supreme Court, while deferring the hearing to July 28, acknowledged the importance of the issue and recorded the ECI’s assurance that it is open to discussing concerns with petitioners.