PIL in SC seeks SIT probe into Rahul Gandhi’s allegations of electoral roll manipulation
New Delhi: A Public Interest Litigation has been filed in the Supreme Court seeking the constitution of a Special Investigation Team (SIT) headed by a former judge to probe allegations of large-scale manipulation of voters’ lists in the Bengaluru Central constituency during the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, as raised by Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi.
The petition, filed by Advocate Rohit Pandey through Advocate Kausar Raza Faridi, also sought directions restraining any further revision or finalisation of electoral rolls until compliance with the Court’s directions and an independent audit. It further sought binding guidelines to ensure transparency in the preparation and publication of electoral rolls, including mechanisms to detect duplicate or fictitious entries.
The petitioner cited Rahul Gandhi’s press conference on August 7 and claimed to have independently verified the allegations, pointing to 40,009 invalid voters and 10,452 duplicate entries in Bengaluru Central. Instances of voters holding multiple EPIC numbers across states, identical addresses and fathers’ names, and around 80 voters registered at a single small house were also highlighted.
The plea argued that such manipulation undermines Articles 324, 325, and 326 of the Constitution, distorts the principle of “one person, one vote,” and infringes the rights to equality and democratic participation under Articles 14 and 21.
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Meghalaya: Interstate ATM theft racket busted, 6 arrested
Shillong (PTI): An interstate racket involved in ATM thefts across several states has been busted, with the arrest of six persons in connection with a break-in at an electronic banking outlet in Meghalaya's Ri-Bhoi district, police said on Wednesday.
The accused were allegedly involved in breaking into an ATM of the Meghalaya Cooperative Apex Bank on April 5, 2024, they said.
Three of the accused were arrested from Barpeta in Assam, while the remaining were apprehended from Haryana, police said.
Ri-Bhoi SP Giri Prasad M said a special police team was constituted to investigate the case.
"With coordinated efforts and assistance from Assam and Haryana Police, we were able to apprehend the accused involved in the ATM break-in," he told PTI.
The case was registered at Umiam police station under sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).
According to police, the gang used gas cutters to break open the ATM safe and fled with the cash within minutes.
"The group is part of a larger network involved in similar ATM thefts across different states. Further investigation is underway to dismantle the entire network," the SP added.
