Supreme Court Demands EVM Verification Updates from Election Commission

The Supreme Court has instructed the Election Commission to verify burnt EVM memory units per its previous judgment, forbidding data erasure during this process. A 15-day deadline was set for the Commission's response, and the court emphasized adherence to the 2024 EVM-VVPAT case judgment.

On Tuesday, the Supreme Court requested the Election Commission of India to respond to petitions demanding the verification of burnt memory and symbol loading units in electronic voting machines (EVMs), in line with its past judgment.

A special bench, comprising Chief Justice Sanjiv Khanna and Justice Dipankar Datta, mandated that the Election Commission avoid the erasure or reloading of data throughout the verification process.

The bench provided a 15-day timeline for the Election Commission to submit their response, elaborating on the methods employed. The matter has been scheduled for the week starting March 3. The Supreme Court considered requests for directions to verify burnt memory/micro-controllers and the symbol loading unit (SLU) of EVMs.

The Assosiation for Democratic Reforms (ADR) submitted a fresh application, arguing that the Election Commission's standard operating procedure for EVM verification was inconsistent with the 2024 verdict in the EVM-VVPAT case.

ADR called for the court to prevent the poll panel from clearing or deleting the original burnt memory in cases where verification applications were still pending.

The Supreme Court also dismissed a new petition from Karan Singh Dalal, a former Haryana minister and five-time MLA, who was seeking a policy on EVM verification.

Previously, in its April 26, 2024 ruling, the court rejected appeals to return to the paper ballot system, stating that current polling devices were secure and effectively deterred booth capturing and fraudulent voting.

Nonetheless, the court allowed dissatisfied candidates who placed second or third in election results to request verification of micro-controller chips in 5% of EVMs per assembly constituency, provided a written request and fee were submitted to the Election Commission.