SC upholds EVM trust

Electoral officer demonstrates the functioning of the EVM and VVPAT. Pic/PTI

The Supreme Court on Friday rejected pleas seeking complete cross-verification of votes cast using EVMs with a Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) and said "blindly distrusting" any aspect of the system can breed unwarranted scepticism.

Maintaining that "democracy is all about striving to build harmony and trust between all institutions", a bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta delivered two concurring verdicts and dismissed all the pleas in the matter, including those seeking to go back to ballot papers in elections.

The court issued two directives. Pronouncing his verdict, Justice Khanna directed the Election Commission to seal and store units used to load symbols for 45 days after the symbols have been loaded to electronic voting machines in strong rooms.

The apex court also allowed engineers of the EVM manufacturers to verify the microcontroller of the machines after the declaration of the results on the request of candidates who stood second and third.

Request for the verification of the microcontroller can be made within seven days of declaration of the results after payment of fees, the court said.

Decision exposes INDIA bloc: Law minister

Union Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal welcomed the decision and said it has exposed opposition parties, including the Congress, that had left no opportunity to defame EC.

Court has rejected pleas seeking complete cross-verification of votes cast using EVMs with a VVPAT and said blindly distrusting any aspect of system can breed unwarranted scepticism.

Modi hails SC verdict; slams opposition

PM Narendra Modi asserted that SC judgment on cross-verification of votes was a tight slap on Congress-led opposition which must apologise for committing the sin of creating distrust against EVMs.

Addressing an election rally, he also charged the opposition with trying to steal reservations meant for OBCs, SCs and STs for sake of their favourite vote bank of Muslims.

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