GUWAHATI: The Supreme Court dismissed a plea that sought directions to the Election Commission of India (ECI) to carry out 100% manual counting of Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) slips in addition to the electronic counting done through the control unit on Monday, April 7.
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The bench comprising Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna, Justice Sanjay Kumar, and Justice KV Viswanathan heard the matter. The petition had been filed by Hans Raj Jain, appearing in person.
Jain submitted that he had previously made a representation to the ECI, but having received no response, he approached the Delhi High Court. The High Court dismissed his petition, prompting the present Special Leave Petition before the apex court.
During the hearing, Chief Justice Khanna observed that the issue had already been examined by the Supreme Court and could not be revisited. The bench declined to entertain the matter, stating, “We do not find any good ground or reason to interfere in the impugned judgment and hence dismissed the present SLP.”
In April 2024, a Supreme Court bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta had similarly rejected pleas demanding 100% cross-verification of Electronic Voting Machine (EVM) data with VVPAT records. Although the court did not allow full cross-verification, it issued directions concerning the storage of Symbol Loading Units and post-poll checking of 5% of EVMs in each assembly segment upon request by runner-up candidates.
Jain reiterated his concerns over the speed of vote counting, which he described as suspicious based on his prior experiences. Before the Delhi High Court, he had sought detailed inspection of EVM records and manual counting of votes. He also proposed a modification in the VVPAT system, where the printer would remain open, allowing voters to pick up the printed slip, verify it, fold it, and deposit it in a sealed box in front of the presiding officer before exiting the polling station.
The High Court, in its October 2024 order, had dismissed Jain’s petition, stating that the matter was already covered by the Supreme Court’s decision in Association of Democratic Reforms v. Election Commission of India & Anr.
Jain had also sought directions for the manual counting of printed paper slips from VVPAT dropboxes in all future Legislative Assembly and Parliamentary elections where the paper trail mechanism is used.
