Plea for Breathalyser Test of Voters at Polling Booths Dismissed by Supreme Court

New Delhi: A petition seeking a breathalyser test of voters in queue at every polling booth during the elections was dismissed by the Supreme Court on Wednesday.

While dismissing the petition, a bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta said, “It is more of a publicity interest litigation”.

This petition was filed by the Andhra Pradesh unit of the Janavahini Party. The advocate representing the party in the apex court said, no voter should be allowed to vote under the influence of alcohol.

The bench said, “What is this? It is for publicity. On polling day it is a dry day and police personnel are deployed everywhere. We will not entertain this. Dismissed.”

Initially, the Andhra Pradesh unit of the Janavahini Party had approached the Andhra Pradesh High Court with the same request. The High Court dismissed the plea on February 28.

The party sought direction to the Election Commission of India (ECI) to arrange a breathing analyser test at the entry point of queues at polling booths and allow only those voters to vote who are not under the influence of alcohol.