‘We cannot control the election…,’ says Supreme Court as it reserves verdict on EVM-VVPAT verification

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Lok Sabha Elections 2024 scheduled for April 26. A bench comprising Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta, who had reserved its verdict on a batch of pleas seeking complete cross-verification of votes cast using EVMs with Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) on April 18, had earlier said it needs clarification on certain aspects as there was some confusion in answers given by the EC in its 'frequently asked questions' (FAQs) on EVMs. During the hearing, Supreme Court Judge Datta pointed out to advocate Prashant Bhushan that no incidence of malicious program loading with the symbol had been reported.

“Out of the 5% VVPATs counted, any candidate can show if there is any mismatch," Justice Datta queried. “Till date there is no report of any such incident (malicious program being loaded along with the symbol). We cannot control the election Mr Bhushan, we cannot control another constitutional authority," Justice Datta remarked.

Justice Khanna reassured, "If there is room for improvement, we can certainly enhance it. The courts intervened twice: first, when we mandated the use of VVPAT, and second, when we increased the verification from one to five percent." The Supreme Court also emphasized that whenever suggestions were sought to enhance the voting process, the submissions consistently advocated for a return to ballot papers’. In its defense, the Election Commission official told the apex court, “Each of the three units, CU, BU, and VVPAT, contains its own microcontrollers, securely housed within.