SC to Hear Plea for Cross-Verification of Votes With VVPAT in Two Weeks

A bench headed by Justices Sanjiv Khanna said the plea will be listed in a fortnight after advocate Prashant Bhushan, appearing for the NGO, said the matter should be heard urgently.

New Delhi:The Supreme Court on Wednesday said it would take up in two weeks a plea by an NGO seeking cross-verification of the votes cast in EVMs with Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT). The seven-phase Lok Sabha polls will begin on April 19.

Advocate Prashant Bhushan, representing the NGO, submitted before a bench led by Sanjiv Khanna that the matter should be heard urgently as the elections will begin soon. Senior advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan, also appearing in the matter, stressed that elections are scheduled to begin soon and if the case is not heard, the plea would become infructuous.

Justice Khanna, who was sitting on a special bench along with Justice MM Sundresh and Justice Bela M Trivedi, said the court is aware of the situation and would hear the matter in a fortnight.

The bench said, “Mr. Bhushan, after all, how much time this matter will take. You can make submissions in two-hours and we will finish the matter," said Justice Khanna.

The apex court in July last year had sought the response of the Election Commission of India on a plea filed by NGO 'Association for Democratic Reforms' (ADR).

The NGO had sought a direction to the ECI and the Centre to ensure the voters are able to verify through VVPATs that their vote has been "counted as recorded".

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