Supreme Court to Reassign EVM Verification Plea from Haryana Assembly Elections
Click to start listening
New Delhi, Dec 20 (NationPress) For the second consecutive time, a bench, presided over by the current Chief Justice of India (CJI) Sanjiv Khanna, has referred the hearing of a plea from Congress leaders to another bench in the Supreme Court, which is seeking the verification of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) utilized during the Haryana Assembly elections.
On Friday, the bench consisting of CJI Khanna and Justice Sanjay Kumar indicated that the case should be addressed by a bench led by Justice Dipankar Datta in January of the upcoming year.
Previously, a bench headed by Justices Vikram Nath and P.B. Varale expressed that the plea requesting the Election Commission of India (ECI) to establish a memorandum for the examination and verification of the original burnt memory/microcontroller of the four components of the EVM should be directed to the same bench which had issued instructions concerning EVMs in April.
The bench led by Justice Nath remarked that the new petition pertains to the interpretation and execution of the prior ruling from the apex court. Therefore, the registry should submit the documents to the CJI, who is in charge of the roster, to issue suitable orders regarding whether the petition should be presented before the previous bench.
To bolster the credibility of the electoral process in the nation, a bench of Justices Khanna (currently CJI) and Datta had previously mandated in April that a verification and examination of the burnt memory/microcontroller in 5 percent of EVMs be conducted for any tampering or alterations upon a written request from candidates who secured the second and third highest votes in an election.
This verification process was to be carried out by a team of engineers from the EVM manufacturers, allowing candidates and their representatives to be present during the procedure, as stated.
The latest petition, submitted by Karan Singh Dalal, a five-time Congress MLA, claims that the ECI has not established any procedure for the examination and verification of the original burnt memory/microcontroller of the four components of the EVM (Control Unit, Ballot Unit, VVPAT, and Symbol Loading Unit) according to the Supreme Court's ruling.
The petition requests directions for the poll body to formulate a memorandum for the examination and verification of the original burnt memory/microcontroller of the four components of the EVM.
It further demands that this examination be completed within eight weeks and be applicable to the EVM verification forms submitted to the ECI on October 14.
The petition, which was filed by advocate Neha Rathi, states that the issues raised necessitate an authoritative decision from the apex court due to their significant public importance and nationwide implications.
"This matter impacts the functionality of democracy in the nation and the elections being conducted in various states, thus requiring urgent and authoritative resolution," it stated.
The lack of any verification procedures for the burnt memory, suggesting a reluctance on the part of the ECI to allow scrutiny of the original burnt memory microcontroller, was emphasized in the petition.
