EVMs-VVPAT Slips 100% Matching Plea: Supreme Court To Pronounce Verdict Today At 2 PM

The Supreme Court bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta will today, at around 2 pm, pronounce its verdict on 100% counting of Voter-Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) slips printed through Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) votes and other related pleas. The court has asked for a response from the Election Commission representatives.

Today, the Supreme Court asked the poll body to clarify on four questions:

1. Is there any Microcontroller installed in the controlling unit or the VVPAT?
2. The microcontroller is one time programmable?
3. How many Symbol loading units are available with the Election Commission?
4. It was said limitation for Election petition is 30 days and hence the data was stored for 45 days. But as per RP Act, the limitation period is 45 days. So the period for storage may have to be correspondingly increased?"

The court has also asked Election Commission officials to be present in the Supreme Court at 2pm today.

The Apex court had reserved its decision on April 18, after a two-day trial.

During the hearing, Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta heard all the legal arguments from the petitioners and representatives of the Election Commission of India (ECI) and churned over what can be done to win the confidence of the voters that their vote has been registered successfully.

The Apex body also asked the ECI officials to explain the functioning of EVMs and VVPATs in the court.

ECI's counsel senior advocate Maninder Singh had reiterated that EVMs are standalone machines and cannot be tampered or hacked. However, he kept the gray areas for the possibility of human error.

"You have to allay the apprehensions, both in the court and outside the court. Let nobody have the apprehension that something which is expected is not being done," Justice Datta replied to ECI's counsel, highlighting that the electoral process has to have its sanctity.

The Supreme Court bench also told the petitioners that they have to trust somebody, over suspicion of everything is also not right. They need to have trust in the poll governing body.

"Everything cannot be suspected. You cannot be critical of everything. If they (the ECI) have done something good, you have to appreciate it. You don't have to be critical of everything," the bench to petitioners.