New Delhi: Supreme Court on Friday rejected petitions that sought 100 per cent verification of votes caste on Electronic Voting Machines with paper slips generated through the VVPAT method. The court bench of Justice Sanjiv Khanna and Justice Dipankar Datta pronounced separate but concurrent judgements, NDTV reported.
The court said that though a balanced perspective is important, blindly doubting a system can breed scepticism, and therefore, meaningful criticism is needed, be it from the judiciary, legislators, etc. The court said that democracy is all about maintaining harmony and trust among all pillars. Voice of Democracy can be strengthened by nurturing a culture of trust and collaboration. The court added that its approach in this matter has been guided by evidence.
However, the apex court passed two directions to EC, which are sealing off the Symbol Loading Unit in EVMs after symbols are loaded, and the same should be stored for at least 45 days. The court was also directed by a team of engineers to check the burnt memory in the microcontroller of the EVM after the declaration of results on request by candidates in serial numbers 2 and 3.
The court also suggested that the poll body could count the VVPAT slips using a machine.