New Delhi:The Supreme Court on Tuesday told the Election Commission of India (ECI) to not delete any data from electronic voting machines (EVM) nor reload any data on the EVM, pending verification, while hearing a plea seeking directions to the ECI to allow verification of the burnt memory and symbol loading units (SLU) of the EVMs.
The matter was heard by a bench led by Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna and comprising Justice Dipankar Datta. The bench told the ECI counsel, "Please do not erase the data and reload the data. Let someone just examine…”.
The apex court was hearing a plea filed by the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) seeking directions to the ECI to allow verification of the burnt memory and symbol loading units (SLU) of the EVMs.
During the hearing, advocate Prashant Bhushan, representing the ADR, contended that the ECI SoP only conducts mock polls for verification of the EVMs, and stressed that his client wants somebody should examine the software and hardware of EVM to see whether the machine has any element of manipulation or not.
The bench asked once votes are counted, will the paper trail be there or taken out? Bhushan said the paper trail is supposed to be there. Senior advocate Maninder Singh represented the ECI before the bench.
Citing the April 2024 judgment, the bench told Singh that directions in the judgment did not intend to erase or reload the polling data in the EVMs. The bench clarified that it only intended for the EVM to be verified and checked by an engineer from the EVM manufacturing company after the polling was conducted.
The bench said the EVM data should not be immediately wiped out or erased, and emphasised that was not the purpose of its earlier judgment.
The top court favoured an engineer checking the EVM and certifying that a particular EVM (micro-controller, burnt memory) has not been tampered. The bench suggested this could happen if anyone, especially the candidate who came second or third, raises a doubt. The apex court sought a response from the ECI on the procedure adopted in the event of a request for verification of EVMs.
The bench said the ECI should also respond to the demand by another petitioner, Sarv Mitter, a losing Congress candidate in Haryana polls, that an engineer should verify that micro-controller, burnt memory have not been tampered. The bench also sought clarification from the ECI on the contention of the petitioner that data was erased and reloaded. The bench suggested that the cost of verification of the EVM should be reduced from the present of Rs 40,000. The bench said this cost is too high. The apex court sought a response from the ECI in the third week of March.
