The Supreme Court recently dismissed a public interest litigation (PIL) claiming discrepancies in the purchase of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) by Election Commission of India (ECI).
A bench led by Chief Justice of India (CJI) DY Chandrachud stated that the expense of elections is high, but it is the cost that one has to pay for democracy.
“The cost of elections is astronomical but that is the price you pay for democracy. We can no longer ask how you spent so much money on EVMs,” the Court stated.
The petitioner’s lawyer claimed that the ECI had not actually purchased the EVMs, despite the fact that they were listed as purchased.
The Court did remark, however, that the purchase of EVMs by ECI did not fall under the purview of Article 32, which deals with the right to move before the Supreme Court for the enforcement of fundamental rights.
As a result, the petition was dismissed.
