The petition was filed by Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR), after the Supreme Court reserved its verdict on petitions related to complete collection of votes cast through Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) with Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) Is. Has taken an important decision. It was clear from the observations that it is not the controlling authority for elections and constitutional authority cannot direct the functioning of the Election Commission of India. During the hearing, the Court said that we cannot control the elections which are conducted by any other constitutional authority (Election Commission). The court also said that the Election Commission has removed the doubts. The bench of Justice Sanjeev Khanna and Justice Dipankar Dutta said that it cannot proceed on the basis of mere suspicion. The petition was filed by the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR). Answering the questions of advocate Prashant Bhushan, appearing on behalf of ADR, the court said that if you have already decided about some thought process then we cannot help you. We’re not here to change your mind.
The bench told Solicitor General Aishwarya Bhati, appearing for the Election Commission, that we do not want to be proved wrong, but want to be completely sure about our findings and that is why we have sought clarification. Vyas had earlier given a presentation to the court about the functioning of EVMs. In which issues like storage of EVMs, microchip in the control unit of EVMs etc. were discussed.
Court seeks clarification from Election Commission
The Supreme Court sought clarification from the Election Commission regarding certain aspects of the functioning of electronic voting machines and also directed a top Election Commission official to appear before the court. A senior Election Commission official appeared to answer the court’s questions after which the Supreme Court reserved its decision. A bench of Justices Khanna and Dipankar Datta said it needed clarification on certain aspects, as there was some confusion in the answers given by the Election Commission regarding some frequently asked questions about EVMs.
