New Delhi: The Supreme Court has rejected the demand for full verification of VVPAT slips and votes in Electronic Voting Machine (EVM).
The court also rejected the demand to revert to paper ballots instead of EVMs. The judgment of the Supreme Court was considered by the petition filed by the Association of Democratic Reforms and others.
A bench of Justices Sanjeev Khanna and Dipankar Dutta delivered two separate judgments. The Supreme Court had sought an explanation from the Election Commission on the petitions. Based on this, the judgment was pronounced today.
“It is not practical to fully count VVPAT slips. However, the slip loading unit can be kept sealed. An entire system cannot be blindly held in doubt. Democracy is about keeping everyone in unity and trust. The court decided on the petitions on the basis of clear evidence.’ – Justice Sanjiv Khanna said.
The Supreme Court also made some suggestions to examine the allegations raised by the petitioners. The experts can check the memory and serial number of the EVM by considering the application of the candidates. The application must be made within seven days of the election results. The cost of inspection should also be fixed. This amount will be refunded if the allegation is found to be true.
Last day, when the matter was considered, the court raised doubts related to the functioning of the voting machine and VVPAT. These included where the micro-controller is attached to the machine, whether it can be programmed more than once, and how many days the voting machines are kept after the election. The Election Commission officials had come directly and clarified the matter.
