Supreme Court to pass directions in EVM-VVPAT case on April 24

Petitions have sought 100% cross verification of vote count in EVMs with Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail paper slips

An official demonstrates the functioning of the EVM and the Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) machine during a training programme at Tezpur in Assam’s Sonitpur on April 12, 2024. | Photo Credit: ANI

The Supreme Court is scheduled on April 24 to pass directions on petitions seeking 100% cross verification of vote count in electronic voting machines (EVMs) with Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) paper slips. A Bench headed by Justice Sanjiv Khanna had reserved the case for judgment on April 18.

The petitioners, including the Association for Democratic Reforms, had argued that 97 crore registered voters in the country had a right to a more transparent electoral system, with or without EVMs.

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Advocate Prashant Bhushan and senior advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan, for the petitioners, had highlighted the fundamental right of the voter to confirm that his vote has been cast right.

The Election Commission had countered that EVMs were “perfect”.

The Bench had chided petitioners that “it was not good to be over-suspicious about everything”.

Currently, cross-verification of EVM-VVPAT happens only in five randomly selected polling booths in a constituency.