Keep EVMS used in DUSU polls secure: HC
NEWDELHI: The Delhi High Court on Monday directed the chief electoral officer of the Delhi University Students’ Union (DUSU) elections to “secure” the electronic voting machines (EVMS) used in the elections and keep them under “lock and key.” The court passed the direction on a plea that sought declaring the elections as null and void on the account of alleged tampering of the EVMS.
Justice Siddharth Mridul also sought the response of the Union ministry of human resource and development (HRD), the Delhi University and the three ABVP candidates on the plea.
The plea had been filed by three leaders from Congress’ student wing National Students’ Union of India (NSUI), who had lost the September 12 vote. They claimed there was a possibility that the EVMS used in the election were “privately procured”.
“…the chief electoral officer appointed by the Delhi University for conducting the Delhi University Students Union (DUSU) elections is directed to ensure that the EVMS utilised for the conducting the polling and counting of votes along with all paper trails and documentations is kept in a safe base under his (DUSU chief electoral officer’s) lock and key till the next date of hearing,” Justice Mridul said adding that the EVMS were the “only material available” in the case.
The court’s direction came while hearing a plea by three NSUI candidates — Sunny Chillar, Meena and Saurabh Yadav — who claimed that the varsity had conducted the elections in the most “arbitrary” and “capricious” manner.
Appearing for the petitioners, senior advocate Anoop George Chowdhury sought interim relief from the court to restrain the winners from assuming charge.
The court, however, declined to grant relief to the petitioners.
Advocate Anil Soni, standing counsel for the Centre, said the same EVMS had been used in several other earlier DUSU elections in which many NSUI candidates had won. He also contended that the challenge was only to the three posts the NSU lost, and not the post it had won.
The court sought the response of the authorities and fixed October 29 as the next date of hearing.
The petition further questioned the manner in which the EVMS were procured after the Election Commission said they had not allotted the EVMS for the polls.