The top court was informed today by Solicitor General (SG) Tushar Mehta that the frequent filing of EVM-related petitions was making the democratic choice of voters a farce.
Regarding the petitions asking for instructions to tally voter-verifiable paper audit trail (VVPAT) slips with votes cast using electronic voting machines (EVMs) during the elections, the Supreme Court postponed its decision on Thursday.
During the hearing today, a bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta stated that not everything can be suspected and that the petitioners are not have to be critical of every component of the EVM.
“You have to be grateful for whatever explanation that is provided. Mr. Bhushan, no further explanation is necessary. Why should they keep explaining things to you till they’re legal if an improvement is made? The Court informed Advocate Prashant Bhushan, who was representing one of the petitioners, that it was up to them to decide whether or not to have a bulb, how bright it would be, etc.
The petitioners’ additional attorney argued that the issue of fundamental rights was raised, and the court said, “We are not disputing it is fundamental right but over-suspicion is not working out here.”
Later, when an attorney brought up the systems in other nations, such as Bangladesh, the Court made an exception and declared,
You are aware of the effectiveness of our system and the events surrounding the ballot papers. The fact that more individuals are voting indicates the level of faith that people hold.
Additionally, Solicitor General (SG) Tushar Mehta argued against the petitioners, claiming that the continual filing of petitions concerning Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) was making the democratic choice of voters a farce.
He clarified that these petitions are only submitted during election seasons. The petitioners cannot be held responsible for the delay in hearing the cases, the Court explained, adding that the petition had been filed earlier and that the Supreme Court’s arrears were what caused the wait.
“We could not decide the petition due to work pressure but this is not filed in the anvil of elections,” Justice Datta stated.
The Court stated in reference to SG Mehta’s claim that stories about cases were fabricated.
“People have the freedom to post their opinions on social media and they can do it.“
Senior Attorney Gopal Sankaranarayanan, who represented one of the petitioners, then said that they were merely drawing attention to the system’s flaws and weren’t leveling accusations against the Election Commission of India (ECI).
A number of petitions asking for a comprehensive count of voter verifiable paper audit trail (VVPAT) slips in elections were being heard by the court.
The Court has been requested, among other things, to mandate that all votes cast by EVMs be totaled using VVPAT slips rather than just a portion of EVM votes (which are chosen at random) being totaled using VVPAT slips.
In the previous hearing, the Court had declined to return to paper ballots and instead had asked the ECI if there was any legislation that would penalize officials and authorities for tampering with EVMs.