SC Reserves Verdict on EVM-VVPAT Cross-Verification Pleas

The Supreme Court reserved its verdict on Thursday regarding a batch of pleas seeking comprehensive cross-verification of votes cast using EVMs with Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT).

The Bench

A bench comprising Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta reserved its verdict following the Election Commission’s response to the pleas.

The petitions

The petitioners also sought the reversal of the poll panel’s 2017 decision to exchange the transparent glass on VVPAT machines with an opaque glass, enabling a voter to observe the slip only when the light is on for seven seconds.

Senior advocate Maninder Singh, representing the Election Commission, elucidated the process of how an EVM operates. Advocates Prashant Bhushan and Gopal Sankararanarayanan appeared for the petitioners, while other lawyers represented the intervenors.

The Apex Court, has on April 16, criticized the criticism of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) and calls for reverting to ballot papers, emphasizing that the electoral process in India is a “humongous task” and attempts should not be made to “bring down the system”.

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