GUWAHATI: The Supreme Court has concluded a day-long hearing on Thursday and reserved judgment on a series of petitions demanding 100% verification of Electronic Voting Machine (EVM) data with Voter-Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT).
The bench, comprising Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta, heard arguments from petitioners, including the Association for Democratic Rights (ADR), over the course of two days, on April 16 and April 18. The verdict is now awaited on the matter.
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During the proceedings, the bench engaged in extensive discussions with an official from the Election Commission of India (ECI) to gain insights into the technical aspects and security features of the EVMs.
Various submissions were made by the petitioners' counsels during the hearing. Advocate Prashant Bhushan proposed that the VVPAT screen's light should remain lit throughout the voting process to ensure visibility of the slip cutting and falling. Advocate Nizam Pasha suggested allowing voters to physically take the VVPAT slip and deposit it in the ballot box, a proposal that received scrutiny from the bench.
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Senior advocate Sanjay Hegde advocated for counting all VVPATs post EVM vote counting to enhance audit credibility. Additionally, concerns were raised regarding reports of EVM malfunctioning during mock polls in Kerala, prompting the bench to seek clarification from the ECI.
The bench interacted with the ECI official present in the court to comprehend the intricacies of the electoral process and the security measures in place. The official explained that VVPAT slips are not intended for direct counting due to their small size and adhesive nature, which prolongs the manual counting process.