NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Monday refused to entertain a plea filed by a 78-year-old bedridden woman desperately seeking direction to the ECI to vote through postal ballot in the ongoing Lok Sabha Elections.
A two-judge vacation bench of the top court, led by Justice Bela M Trivedi and Justice Pankaj Mithal rejected the plea filed by Sarla Srivastava, hailing from Chhattisgarh.
Srivastava had moved the apex court after the Chhattisgarh HC had on May 6 rejected her plea, seeking direction for the issuance of postal ballot to cast a vote from the Bilaspur constituency that went to polls on May 7.
The apex court refused to entertain Srivastava's plea on the ground that the application filed by her, has become infructuous, as the polling date has already expired.
Noting that the woman had not even produced the benchmark disability certificate, the Supreme Court in its order, said, "Everybody would like to sit at home and cast vote. We are not entertaining this plea."
The woman had initially filed a petition on April 29, before the Chhattisgarh HC seeking direction for the issuance of postal ballot considering her age and ailments. The court rejected her plea but allowed her to make an application before the returning officer concerned, and directed the authority to consider her claim strictly in accordance with the law.
She told the top court that she had made an application before the returning officer for the issuance of postal ballot but it was rejected on May 1.
Following this the woman approached the High Court again seeking interim relief. But the HC rejected her application on May 6 saying that the the instructions issued by ECI with regard to the issuance of postal ballot and its collection cannot be completed in 24 hours.
Thereafter, Srivastava approached the top court challenging the May 6 High Court order.