The Supreme Court on Tuesday rejected a PIL seeking 100 per cent matching of Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) slips with Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs). Counting of votes will take place on May 23 for the Lok Sabha elections.
On May 7 the Supreme Court had dismissed a review plea filed by 21 Opposition leaders led by Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu seeking random matching of VVPAT slips with EVMs is increased to 50 per cent. Prior to this on April 8, the court had directed the Election Commission to increase random matching of VVPAT slips with EVMs from one to five polling booths per assembly segment in the Lok Sabha polls, saying it would provide greater satisfaction not just to political parties but also to the entire electorate.
A two-judge vacation bench headed by Justice Arun Mishra refused to entertain the plea filed by a Chennai-based organisation ‘Tech for All’ on Tuesday. The court that a larger bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi had already dealt with the matter and passed an order. Justice Mishra said, “We cannot override the CJI’s order. This is nonsense. The petition is taken on board…Dismissed.”
