New Delhi: Amidst the ongoing voting for Lok Sabha elections 2024, the Election Commission has got a big relief from the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court on Friday rejected the petitions which demanded 100 percent verification of votes cast in electronic voting machines through VVPAT. A two-judge bench of Justice Sanjeev Khanna and Justice Dipankar Dutta gave the verdict unanimously. The court also rejected the demand for holding elections through ballot paper and also rejected the demand for 100 percent verification. In this way, voting will take place through EVMs only and ballot papers will not be returned.
Supreme Court Justice Dipankar Dutta, while giving advice to the petitioners, said, ‘It is not right to blindly doubt any system. Therefore, according to us, there is a need for meaningful criticism, be it the judiciary or the legislature. Democracy means maintaining harmony and trust among all the pillars. By promoting trust and cooperation, we can strengthen the voice of our democracy.
Voting will be done through EVM only, ballot paper will not be returned…Election Commission gets relief from Supreme Court, all petitions on VVPAT rejected
Not only this, the Supreme Court gave two important instructions to the Election Commission. The Supreme Court asked the Election Commission to keep the symbol loading unit safe for 45 days. Apart from this, the court said that if a candidate demands verification, then in that case its expenses should be recovered from him and if any tampering is found in the EVM, then the entire expenses should be refunded to the candidate.
At the same time, Justice Sanjeev Khanna asked the Election Commission to pay attention to the suggestion of electronic machines for counting paper slips and also see if there can be a bar code for each party along with the election symbol. The court said that on the request of the candidates, the memory in the microcontroller EVM will be checked after the declaration of results. Such request can be made within 7 days of the declaration of results. However, the Supreme Court has suggested the Election Commission to explore the possibility of taking the help of machines in counting VVPATs.
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Tags: EVM, Supreme Court, VVPAT
FIRST PUBLISHED: April 26, 2024, 12:18 IST