SC seeks EC reply on PIL alleging EVM ‘tampering’
New Delhi: The Supreme Court Friday issued a notice to the Election Commission in a PIL seeking a probe into allegations of tampering of electronic voting machines during elections. The action comes in the wake of tampering allegations by leaders like Mayawati and Arvind Kejriwal. The court, however, did not issue notice to the CBI, though it was cited as a party respondent in the petition. Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama and Australian cricket team captain Steven Smith rub their noses during an interaction with the team at the Tsuglakhang temple in Dharamsala Friday.
The Supreme Court on Friday clarified that an officer-bearer of the BCCI for nine years can still become part of the state cricket association. Further the bench said that if a person has been an office-bearer in the state association for nine years he cannot be barred from becoming holding a post in the BCCI.
Attorney General Mukul. Rohatgi, who appeared for Railway Sports Promotion Board, Services Sports Control Board and All India Universities, submitted that these three members of BCCI, who had full membership earlier, now stand relegated and downgraded to associate member status without voting rights as per the Lodha committee’s “one state-one vote” recommendation. He said applications have been filed to recall the July 18, 2016 judgment in this regard. The court said all these applications will be taken up for hearing on July 14.
On January 2, the court had dismantled the existing power structure of the BCCI by removing the board’s president Anurag Thakur and secretary Ajay Shirke for impeding the implementation of the Lodha Committee’s recommendations. The court said the board would be supervised by a committee of administrators until new office-bearers were elected once the BCCI implemented the recommendations. The court had directed the COA to supervise the administration of the BCCI through its chief executive officer Rahul Johri.