Achi news desk-
GUWAHATI: The Supreme Court concluded a day-long hearing on Thursday and reserved judgment on a batch of petitions demanding 100% verification of Electronic Voting Machine (EVM) data with Voter-Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT).
The bench, comprising Justices Sanjeev Khanna and Dipankar Datta, heard arguments from petitioners, including the Association for Democratic Rights (ADR), over two days on April 16 and April 18. We are now awaiting the verdict on the matter.
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During the proceedings, the bench engaged in extensive discussions with an official from the Election Commission of India (ECI) to gain insights into the technical aspects and security features of EVMs.
During the hearing, various claims were made by the petitioners’ attorney. Advocate Prashant Bhushan suggested that the light of the VVPAT screen should remain lit throughout the voting process to ensure the visibility of the slip and fall cut. Advocate Nizam Pasha suggested allowing voters to physically take the VVPAT slip and deposit it in the ballot box, a proposal that drew criticism from the bench.
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Senior advocate Sanjay Hegde supported the counting of all VVPATs after the EVM vote count to improve audit credibility. Additionally, concerns were raised over reports of EVM malfunction during mock polls in Kerala, prompting the bench to seek clarification from the ECI.
The bench interacted with the ECI official present in the court to understand the intricacies of the election process and the security measures in place. The official explained that VVPAT slips are not intended for direct counting due to their small size and sticky nature, which prolongs the manual counting process.
