An election official seals an EVM during the counting of votes for the Jharkhand Assembly polls, in Dhanbad, Saturday, Nov. 23, 2024.
Credit: PTI Photo
New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Tuesday declined to consider a plea for reintroduction of the paper ballot voting system in elections, besides several other electoral reforms.
A bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Prasanna B Varale told the petitioner that it is not keen to entertain the petition.
"What happens is, if you win the elections, EVMs are not tampered. When you lose elections, EVMs are tampered," the bench observed.
Petitioner evangelist Dr K A Paul, appearing in-person, insisted that the issue raised before the court is very important.
He contended that even leaders like Chandrababu Naidu and Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy had questioned the use of electronic voting machines (EVM).
“When Chandrababu Naidu or Mr Reddy lost, they say that EVMs are tampered when they won, they don't say anything” the bench observed, asking the petitioner as to how he sees this scenario.
The petitioner insisted that EVMs can be tampered. He claimed he had got the support of over 180 retired IAS/IPS officers and former judges.
He also raised the issue regarding seizure of cash by the Election Commission during the election.
He also pointed out that several foreign countries are using paper ballots. He submitted that India should follow the practices of countries like the United States which use physical ballots.
The bench, however, asked, "Why should we follow other countries?"
The bench told the petitioner that the court is not the forum to raise all these arguments.
The petitioner claimed that EVMs posed a threat to democracy. He said even Elon Musk had voiced concerns over EVM tampering. He also claimed the EVMs led to violation of Articles 14, 19 and 21 of the Constitution. He also said today is the Constitution day.
The petitioner also raised the issue of seizure of over Rs 9,000 cr of cash by the Election Commission.
The bench, however, said the political parties do not have a problem with it.
The court dismissed the plea after hearing his submissions.