Supreme Court to Decide on Petitions for Full VVPAT-EVM Cross-Verification
Image Source: Times Now
New Delhi: The Supreme Court is set to deliver its verdict today on a series of petitions requesting instructions for cross-verifying votes cast through electronic voting machines (EVMs) with voter-verifiable paper audit trail (VVPAT) slips during elections. A bench consisting of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta reserved judgement on April 18 after a two-day hearing, during which they extensively questioned an Election Commission of India (ECI) official to understand the operation of EVMs.
Senior advocate Maninder Singh, representing the Election Commission, informed the court that EVMs are standalone systems that cannot be tampered with electronically, though he acknowledged that human error is always possible. Justice Datta stressed that the electoral process must be safeguarded, saying, “Let no one doubt that what is supposed to be done is being done.” The bench also cautioned against excessive suspicion, advising petitioners to acknowledge positive aspects of the electoral system, as “being critical of everything isn’t helpful.”
In a prior hearing on April 16, the bench raised concerns about manual counting, emphasising that India’s electoral system is extensive and should not be undermined. Currently, VVPAT slips from five randomly selected EVMs in each Assembly segment are verified, but the petitioners are seeking cross-verification for every vote. The petitions were filed by the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) and activist Arun Kumar Agarwal. Agarwal is advocating for the counting of all VVPAT slips, while ADR’s petition seeks Supreme Court guidance to ensure voters can confirm that their votes are accurately counted through the VVPAT system.
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