The Supreme Court of India dismissed a review petition on Tuesday regarding its April 26 decision not to mandate the cross-verification of votes cast in Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) with Voter-Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) slips.
The petition, examined by a bench led by Justice Sanjiv Khanna, was rejected on the grounds that no substantial case for review was presented. Justice Khanna, along with Justice Dipankar Datta, noted that the review petition did not meet the criteria necessary for overturning the previous ruling.
In its April 26 order, the Supreme Court recognized the importance of voters ensuring their votes are accurately counted but maintained that requiring a 100 percent match of VVPAT slips was impractical.
The court deemed such a requirement could lead to misuse and disputes, hence it was not feasible to allow voters physical access to these slips or to place them in a drop box.
The court also dismissed calls to revert to the ballot paper system, citing the system's well-documented weaknesses. Instead, the Supreme Court issued two key directions to enhance the election process's integrity.
First, Symbol Loading Units (SLUs) are to be sealed after the symbol loading process and stored in a secure location for at least 45 days following the declaration of results. This measure aims to safeguard the SLUs and ensure transparency.
Second, the court directed that the burnt memory of microcontrollers in 5 percent of EVMs per Assembly segment be checked and verified. This verification will be conducted by a team of engineers from EVM manufacturers, following a written request by candidates who finish in the second or third positions. This process must be initiated within seven days of the results being declared.
The review petition, filed under Article 137 of the Constitution, argued that the April 26 judgement contained errors and mistakes warranting reconsideration. However, the Supreme Court found no merit in these claims and upheld its earlier decision.
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