The High Court “closed” a petition filed by an advocate, Balaji Yelamanjula, with regard to counting of 5 VVPAT slips in each Assembly and Lok Sabha constituency. The advocate had urged the High Court to direct the election authorities to consider counting VVPAT paper slips first. The ‘house motion petition’ came up before a vacation bench on Tuesday. Quoting High Court judges’ comments, Mr. Balaji said the court maintained that hardly two days were left and it “cannot direct” the election authorities. Also, the Supreme Court had heard similar petitions. Hence, the High Court cannot interfere. “The petition was not dismissed, but closed,” Mr. Balaji asserted.
The Election Commission has been saying that counting will be done first and then VVPAT slips will be counted.
