Don’t erase EVM data, SC tells EC

The Supreme Court on Tuesday asked the Election Commission to respond to a plea seeking directions to allow verification of the burnt memory and symbol loading units (SLUs) of electronic voting machines (EVMs).

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Acting on an interim application filed by the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR), a Bench of Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna and Justice Dipankar Datta told senior counsel Maninder Singh, representing the EC, not to erase or reload the data in the EVMs while carrying out verifications.

As the ADR alleged that the standard operating procedure framed by the poll panel for the verification of EVMs was not in accordance with the top court’s April 26, 2024 verdict in the EVM-VVPAT case, the Bench asked the EC to file an affidavit explaining the SOP for verification of the EVMs. It also sought a direction to the poll panel to check and verify burnt memory/micro-controllers and SLUs of the EVMs.

Terming the present cost of Rs 40,000 fixed by the EC for verification of the EVMs as “too high”, it also asked the poll panel to reduce it and posted next in the week commencing on March 3.

While dismissing PILs seeking return to the paper ballot system or a 100 per cent cross-verification of votes cast through the EVMs with voter verifiable paper audit trail (VVPAT) slips, the top court had issued certain directions to the EC to strengthen the current EVM system.

It had opened a window for the aggrieved unsuccessful candidates securing second and third places by allowing them to seek verification of microcontroller chips embedded in 5 per cent EVMs per Assembly constituency on a written request upon payment of a fee to the EC.

It had also mandated that five per cent of the EVMs in every assembly constituency should undergo verification by the engineers from EVM manufacturers after the election results were announced.