'Blindly distrusting any...': In EVM-VVPAT case, Supreme Court calls for ‘trust, harmony'
The Supreme Court directed the Election Commission to seal and store units used to load symbols for 45 days.
New Delhi: Rejecting pleas seeking complete cross-verification of votes cast using electronic voting machines (EVMs) via Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) machines, the Supreme Court observed that blindly distrusting any aspect of the system can lead to unwarranted skepticism.
A bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta, while dismissing pleas in the matter, observed that "democracy is all about striving to build harmony and trust between all institutions".
Two judges delivered two separate but concurring verdicts.
"While maintaining a balanced perspective is crucial in evaluating systems or institutions, blindly distrusting any aspect of the system can breed unwarranted skepticism...," Justice Datta observed.
"Instead, a critical yet constructive approach guided by evidence and reason should be followed to make room for meaningful improvements and to ensure the system's credibility and effectiveness," he added.
The Supreme Court 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 declaration of the results on the request of candidates who stood second and third.
The court observed that the verification of the microcontroller can be done seven days after the declaration of results. A candidate will have to pay a certain fee. If EVM are found to be tempered with, the fee will be refunded.
Three petitioners had urged the court to direct the authorities to provide VVPAT slips to all voters and count all of them from ballot boxes.
"We have rejected all of them," Justice Khanna said.
According to senior lawyer Prashant Bhushan, the Supreme Court said that if a barcode is put on all ballot paper, then examine if it can be mechanically counted by machines or not.
With inputs from ANI
