Supreme Court to Hear EVM Verification Plea in January 2025

The Supreme Court will hear ex-minister Karan Singh Dalal's plea for Electronic Voting Machine verification and checking amid claims of irregularities in Haryana's recent assembly elections. The case, previously withdrawn, is set for review in January 2025, focusing on EVM components' examination protocols.

The Supreme Court has scheduled a plea by Karan Singh Dalal, former Haryana minister and five-time MLA, for January 2025, focusing on the verification of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) used in recent Haryana assembly elections. The petition was filed together with Lakhan Kumar Singla, a candidate in the said polls.

During Friday's proceedings, senior advocate Maninder Singh, representing the Election Commission, informed the bench led by Chief Justice Sanjiv Khanna that a similar petition had been previously withdrawn. Consequently, CJI Khanna directed the petition to be listed for a hearing before Justice Dipankar Datta starting the week of January 20, 2025. The petitioners are urging compliance with an existing Supreme Court judgement on EVMs verification policies.

Dalal and Singla, both runners-up in their electoral constituencies, are pushing for a protocol to assess the original memory and microcontroller of EVM components like the Control Unit, Ballot Unit, VVPAT, and Symbol Loading Unit. The Bharatiya Janata Party secured a third successive victory, winning 48 out of 90 seats in the recent elections.

(With inputs from agencies.)