‘Vague & baseless…’ Here’s why Supreme Court rejected pleas seeking 100% verification of EVM-VVPAT?
rejected the pleas seeking 100% cross-verification of votes cast on Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) with paper slips generated by the Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT). The verdict comes in the middle of the Lok Sabha Elections 2024, and on a day, 88 seats go for voting in the second phase of polling. The two judges on the bench, Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta, authored separate yet concurring judgments in the matter.
The court said it had elaborately discussed the protocols and technical aspects before rejecting the petitions. Follow all Live Updates on Phase 2 Polling Here Justice Khanna said in the court that the prayers for reverting to ballot paper voting, complete EVM-VVPAT verification, and giving VVPAT slips to voters to put in the ballot box have been rejected. “We have rejected all of them, after referring to the protocol in place, technical aspects and data which is on record," Justice Khanna said, according to legal news website LiveLaw. The court said that while a balanced perspective is important, blindly doubting a system could lead to unwarranted scepticism.
“While balanced perspective is important, but blindly doubting a system can breed scepticism, and thus meaningful criticism is needed," said Justice Datta on the legal news website Bar and Bench. “Be it judiciary, legislature etc, democracy is all about maintaining harmony and trust among all the pillars. By nurturing a culture of trust and collaboration, we can strengthen the voice of our democracy," Justice Datta said.
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