The Supreme Court on Friday dismissed pleas for the 100 per cent
verification of voter verifiable paper audit trail (VVPAT) slips with the
electronic voting machine count, holding that suspicions regarding tampering of
EVMs were “unfounded”. This implies that polling will proceed as usual, with
all voting machines connected to their respective VVPAT units.
It, however, issued directions to seal and store symbol loading
units, and also paved the way for verification of microcontrollers embedded in
EVMs on the request of candidates who stand second and third.
“In our
considered opinion, EVMs are simple, secure, and user-friendly. The voters,
candidates and their representatives, and the officials of the ECI (Election
Commission of India) are aware of the nitty-gritty of the EVM system. They also
check and ensure righteousness and integrity. Moreover, the incorporation of
the VVPAT system fortifies the principle of vote verifiability, thereby
enhancing the overall accountability of the electoral process,” said the Bench
of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta.
The court ruled that mere suspicion of a mismatch in votes cast
through EVMs, leading to a demand for a 100 per cent VVPAT slip verification,
is not sufficient ground for the present set of writ petitions to be considered
maintainable. “While maintaining a balanced perspective is crucial in
evaluating systems or institutions, blindly distrusting any aspect of the
system can breed unwarranted scepticism,” it said, adding that democracy is all
about striving to build harmony and trust between all institutions.
The Bench said: “We must reject as foible and unsound the
submission to return to the ballot paper system. The weakness of the ballot
paper system is well known and documented.”
Under the current provisions, VVPAT slips of five randomly
selected Assembly constituencies or segments would be counted to verify with
the count of the EVMs.
The Association for Democratic Reforms, which was one of the
petitioners in this case, had sought a 100 per cent counting of VVPAT slips.
However, the court stated that “to only further strengthen the
integrity of the election process”, it has directed that on completion of the
symbol loading process in the VVPATs undertaken on or after May 1 2024, the
symbol loading units (SLUs) shall be sealed and secured in a container.
Candidates or their representatives shall sign the seal. The sealed containers
shall be kept in the strong room along with EVMs for at least 45 days after the
declaration of results. They shall be opened, examined and dealt with as in the
case of EVMs.
SLUs are memory units that are first connected to a computer to
load election symbols onto it, and then used to enter symbols of the candidates
on VVPAT machines. Now, they will be stored for 45 days in case someone files a
petition questioning it.
The
court also directed that the burnt memory/microcontroller in 5 per cent of
EVMs, that is, the control unit, ballot unit, and the VVPAT, per assembly
constituency/assembly segment of a parliamentary constituency shall be checked
and verified by a team of engineers from the manufacturers of EVMs, after the
announcement of the results, for any tampering or modification. This will be on
written requests by candidates who are in second or third place.