Read Time: 06 minutes

Synopsis

Supreme Court of India has held EVMs to be simple, secure and user-friendly. Furthermore, EVMs reduce paper usage and alleviate logistical challenges, the court has said.

"The voters, candidates and their representatives, and the officials of the ECI are aware of the nitty-gritty of the EVM system. They also check and ensure righteousness and integrity. Moreover, the incorporation of the VVPAT system fortifies the principle of vote verifiability, thereby enhancing the overall accountability of the electoral process...", a bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta has held while rejecting petitions for 100% cross verification of EVMs and VVPATs.

Court has further rejected the submission to return to the ballot paper system calling it to be foible and unsound.

"The weakness of the ballot paper system is well known and documented. In the Indian context, keeping in view the vast size of the Indian electorate of nearly 97 crore, the number of candidates who contest the elections, the number of polling booths where voting is held, and the problems faced with ballot papers, we would be undoing the electoral reforms by directing reintroduction of the ballot papers. EVMs offer significant advantages...", the judgment adds.

The submission that any elector should be liberally permitted as a routine to ask for verification of vote has also been rejected. 

Justice Dipankar Datta is a separate but concurring judgment has also noted that there has been a trend in the recent years fast developing of certain vested interest groups endeavouring to undermine the achievements and accomplishments of the nation, earned through the hard work and dedication of its sincere workforce.

"There seems to be a concerted effort to discredit, diminish, and weaken the progress of this great nation on every possible frontier. Any such effort, or rather attempt, has to be nipped in the bud. No Constitutional court, far less this Court, would allow such attempt to succeed as long as it (the court) has a say in the matter...", Justice Dipankar Datta has penned.

Justice Datta also expressed his serious doubt as regards the bona fides of the petitioning association, I.e., Association For Democratic Reforms, when it seeks a reversion to the old order.

"Irrespective of the fact that in the past efforts of the petitioning association in bringing about electoral reforms have borne fruit, the suggestion put forth appeared inexplicable. Question of reverting to the “paper ballot system”, on facts and in the circumstances, does not and cannot arise. It is only improvements in the EVMs or even a better system that people would look forward to in the ensuing years.....", the judgments adds.

Case Title: ASSOCIATION FOR DEMOCRATIC REFORMS vs. ELECTION COMMISSION OF INDIA AND ANOTHER