Supreme Court Denies Petitions for 100% EVM-VVPAT Verification, Says "Blindly Doubting Generates Suspicion"
- Posted on April 26, 2024
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- By TSW NEWS DESK
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The Supreme Court dismissed petitions seeking 100% EVM-VVPAT verification and a return to ballot papers, stating "blindly doubting can breed skepticism." It issued directions on sealing EVMs and allowing candidates to get EVM microcontrollers checked.
Today, the Supreme Court rejected all the pleas demanding a 100% count of EVM votes with VVPAT slips. The two-judge bench headed by Justice Sanjiv Khanna and Justice Dipankar Datta also failed to grant the petition to revert to the ballot paper voting.
In his determination, Justice Datta stated, "We need both a balanced perspective and more than a blind trust to understand and criticize the system. This way, we can prevent people from doubting the system and encourage them to work together for the good of the country."
The apex court enunciated two key instructions. Initially, the SLU should be closed and stored for at least 45 days after the symbol loading has been completed. Firstly, the candidates can ask for the microcontroller program of EVMs to be audited by a team of engineers within seven days after the poll results declaration.
During the hearing on Wednesday, the Supreme Court noted that it cannot run elections or give directions on the grounds of suspicions arising from the efficiency of EVMs. The court ruled that it could not intervene in the minds of those who fear a return to ballot papers because of distrust in electronic polling machines.
The case was initiated by the Association for Democratic Reforms and others. They had sought the review of the Election Commission's 2017 decision of replacing the transparent glass of VVPAT with a closed one, which allowed voters to see the slip only when the light was on for 7 seconds.
There are seven phases of the Lok Sabha elections now underway, with the results expected to be declared on June 4.
