EVM Row: Fresh Plea Seeking 100% VVPAT Count Rejected by Supreme Court
The petition, which was disposed off by the apex court today, was moved by a group of technocrats who had expressed doubts over the immunity of EVMs from tampering and hacking.
New Delhi, May 21: Amid the ongoing row involving the electronic voting machines (EVMs), a fresh plea moved before the Supreme Court seeking 100 per cent VVPAT count has been rejected. The bench had last month dismissed a similar petition moved by 21 parties of the Opposition camp. SP, BSP, RJD and Congress Ask Cadres to Guard EVM Strongrooms Till Counting of Votes
The petition, which was disposed off by the apex court today, was moved by a group of technocrats who had expressed doubts over the immunity of EVMs from tampering and hacking. The VVPAT or voter-verified paper audit trail allows physical counting of the votes polled through an EVM machine. EVMs Can Be Manipulated, VVPAT Slips Should Be Used as Ballot Paper: Chandrababu Naidu
The bench headed by Justice Mishra came down heavily on the petitioner while rejecting the petition. Calling it a "nuisance PIL", the court said such kinds of litigations "would not entertained over and over again".
Update by ANI:
In the past month, the top court had issued an order to the Election Commission, asking it to increase the VVPAT-verification count from one per assembly segment to five.
A dissatisfied Opposition, comprising of 21 political parties, had knocked the judicial doors seeking 100 per cent VVPAT verification. The court, however, turned down their plea after the Commission told the bench that no credible evidence has suggested that EVMs are prone to display incorrect vote count. Further, the EC said it would require unprecedented time and manpower to count the slips of all VVPAT machines.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on May 21, 2019 11:46 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).