Hyderabad: The Telangana High Court on Friday ruled that it cannot issue directions to the Election Commission of India (ECI) to implement voter authentication systems based on Aadhaar-linked biometrics or mobile OTP verification.
The bench, comprising Chief Justice Aperash Kumar Singh and Justice GM Mohiuddin, observed that such a mechanism is not feasible since sections of the population in the country still have no access to mobile phones.
The Telangana High Court stated that the ECI must independently examine the feasibility and take an appropriate decision, and judicial interference in its functioning is not permissible.
The order came in response to a petition filed by Syed Zakir Hussain of Rajendranagar mandal in Ranga Reddy district, who had challenged the ECI’s inaction on his representation seeking a study on introducing biometric and OTP-based voter authentication systems.
The bench dismissed the petition after hearing the arguments.
