Why don't this matter go before the same bench? SC on EVM verification plea

Supreme Court of India. File Pic

The Supreme Court on Friday said that the plea concerning the verification of electronic voting machines (EVMs) should be directed to the same bench that issued a key ruling in April, which rejected calls to revert to traditional paper ballots, reported news agency PTI.

When the plea on EVMs came up for hearing, Justices Vikram Nath and P B Varale told petitioner's counsel senior advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan, "Why don't this matter go before the same bench?"

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Senior advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan, representing the petitioners, said that the April judgment dealt with various concerns about EVMs.

Justice Nath reiterated the need for continuity by stating, "That is what I am saying. It (plea) should go before the same bench."

The bench further said, "To our understanding, the reliefs claimed by means of this petition under Article 32 of the Constitution of India would require interpretation/modification/implementation of the directions issued by this court vide judgement dated April 26, 2024 ..."

In its April 26, 2024 ruling, the Supreme Court dismissed allegations of EVM manipulation as "unfounded." The court confirmed that EVMs were "secured" and eliminated issues such as booth capturing and false voting.

Nonetheless, the court did allow candidates who finished second and third in elections to request the verification of microcontroller chips in five percent of EVMs within their assembly constituencies, contingent upon a written request and payment to the Election Commission.

The new petition, filed by former Haryana minister Karan Singh Dalal and five-time MLA Lakhan Kumar Singla, seeks compliance with the directives issued in the April 26 judgment related to the case of ‘Association for Democratic Reforms versus Union of India.'

Both petitioners finished with the second-highest votes in their respective constituencies, and they are asking the Election Commission to establish a clear protocol for examining the original "burnt memory" or microcontroller of various EVM components, including the control unit, ballot unit, VVPAT, and symbol loading unit.

It asked the apex court registry to place the papers of the case before Chief Justice Sanjiv Khanna for passing appropriate orders on whether the petition would be listed before the same bench or another bench, stated PTI.

The petitioners argue that the Election Commission has not implemented any policy for verifying the burnt memory, which has left the verification process ambiguous.

They noted that the existing standard operating procedures only involve basic diagnostic tests and mock polls, without addressing potential tampering of the burnt memory.

The petitioners are not contesting the election results directly but are advocating for a more stringent verification mechanism for EVMs.

Separate election petitions challenging the results are pending before the Punjab and Haryana High Court, PTI stated.

The petitioners have requested the Supreme Court to mandate the Election Commission to complete the verification process within eight weeks.

The backdrop of this plea follows the recent Haryana assembly elections, in which the BJP secured 48 out of 90 seats.

(With inputs from PTI)