The Supreme Court bench, while giving its verdict, has also rejected the demand for paper ballot. The judges of the bench have taken this decision with mutual consent.
New Delhi: The Supreme Court has rejected all the petitions regarding EVM-VVPAT. The court has rejected all the petitions for 100 percent verification. The judges have taken this decision with consent regarding EVM-VVPAT. Let us tell you that the court has given this decision on the petition demanding 100 percent verification of EVM votes with VVPAT. While giving the verdict, the court has also rejected the demand for paper ballot.
While giving the verdict, Justice Sanjeev Khanna said that we have rejected all the petitions. Democracy is based on harmony and trust among its various pillars. The court’s stance on this has been based on evidence. While giving the verdict, Justice Dipankar Dutta said that it is not right to blindly doubt any system.
The court further said that according to us there is a need for meaningful criticism. Be it judiciary, legislature etc. Democracy means maintaining harmony and trust among all the pillars. We can strengthen the voice of our democracy by promoting a culture of trust and cooperation.
Court gave special instructions
The guidelines issued by the Supreme Court while giving the verdict. Upon completion of the symbol loading process in the EVM, the symbol loading unit should be sealed and secured in containers. The candidate and his/her representative will sign the seal. The sealed containers containing SLU will be kept in the store room along with the EVMs for at least 45 days after the declaration of results. These should be opened and sealed like EVMs.
In its second direction, the court said that after the announcement, the EVMs will be examined and verified by a team of engineers from the manufacturers per assembly constituency and per parliamentary constituency. This scrutiny should be done on the written request of Candidates 2 and 3 within 7 days of declaration of result. The actual cost will be borne by the requesting candidate. The expense will be refunded if EVMs are found to be tampered with. The Supreme Court asked the Election Commission to examine the suggestion of an electronic machine for counting vote slips and whether there could be a bar code for each party along with the election symbol.
Supreme Court gave this special suggestion
The court has said that such request should be made within 7 days of the declaration of the result. However, the Supreme Court has suggested the Election Commission to explore the possibility of taking the help of machines in counting VVPATs. A two-judge bench delivered concurrent but separate verdicts on the issue of VVPAT counting. The court further said that if a candidate demands verification, then in that case its cost should be recovered from him, if any tampering is found in the EVM then the cost should be refunded to him.
Let us tell you that during the last hearing, the Supreme Court had asked four important questions to the Election Commission (EC). Also, the bench of Justice Sanjiv Khanna and Justice Dipankar Dutta had asked a senior official of the Election Commission (ECI) to appear in the court at 2 pm to answer some questions.
The questions the court asked the commission included…
- Is the microcontroller installed in the controlling unit or in the VVPAT?
- Is a microcontroller one time programmable?
- How many units are available with the Commission for marking election symbols?
- You said that the limitation period for filing election petition is 30 days and thus the storage and records are maintained for 45 days. But the limitation day is 45 days, you have to get it right.
