Top court affirms credibility of EVMS
NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court (SC) on Friday dismissed a batch of petitions seeking mandatory cross-verification of the votes cast in Electronic Voting Machines (EVMS) with Voter-verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) slips.
However, a bench headed by Justice Sanjiv Khanna asked the Election Commission of India to examine the suggestion if the VVPAT slips may, in addition to the party symbol, have unique barcodes on them, which in turn could be counted by an electronic machine.
In his verdict, Justice Khanna passed two directions in the mater.
First, all Symbol Loading Units (SLUS) will be sealed on or ater May 1 on completion of the symbol loading process and will be kept in the strong room at least for 45 days post declaration of results.
Second, the burnt memory semicontroller may be examined and verified by a team of engineers from EVM manufacturers post announcement of results on a writen request made by candidates securing second and third highest votes.
Justice Dipankar Data, authored a separate opinion, concurring with the directions issued by Justice Khanna.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, the second highest law officer of the Centre, had slammed the petitioners for periodically filing PILS on the eve of elections saying that the democratic choice of a voter is being turned into a joke.
He added that the issue has already been setled by the apex court with the dismissal of the pleas seeking similar relief in the past.
Calling it a “historic day,” Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday lauded the SC decision. Modi was addressing a series of election rallies in Bihar and West Bengal.
Urging the opposition INDIA bloc leaders to offer an apology for doubting the integrity of the country’s electoral process, Modi said they commited the sin of “creating distrust” against EVMS.
“Today, the Supreme Court has delivered a massive blow to those who plan to loot the ballot boxes. Their dreams have been shatered. The Supreme Court has made it clear today that the era of ballot paper will not return now,” the prime minister said.
“Today, when the entire world praises India’s democracy, its electoral process, and the use of technology in the poll process, these people, for their personal interests, raise questions about the EVMS with malice. They have constantly tried to undermine democracy.”