New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday refused to entertain a plea seeking the reintroduction of the paper ballot voting system in elections, in addition to several other electoral reforms.
The matter came up before a bench comprising justices Vikram Nath and PB Varale. At the outset, the bench made it clear that it is not keen to entertain the petition. However, Evangelist Dr KA Paul, appearing in-person, insisted that the issue raised before the court is very important. The petitioner argued that even leaders like Chandrababu Naidu and YS Jagan Mohan Reddy had questioned the use of electronic voting machines (EVM) . The bench replied, “When Chandrababu Naidu or Mr Reddy lost, they say that EVMs are tampered when they won, they don't say anything…..”, and queried the petitioner, how does he see this scenario?
The petitioner insisted that EVMs can be tampered, and also raised the issue regarding seizure of cash by the Election Commission during the election. The petitioner emphasized that several foreign countries are using paper ballots and suggested that India should follow the practices of countries like the United States which use physical ballots. The bench asked, why should we follow other countries?
The apex court made it clear to the petitioner that the court is not the forum to raise all these arguments. The petitioner stressed that EVMs pose a threat to democracy, and pointed out that even Elon Musk had voiced concerns over EVM tampering. After hearing submissions, the bench dismissed the petition.
