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Plea Seeking To Stop the Use of EVMs Dismissed by the Supreme Court, says Approach High Court

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On Wednesday, the Hon’ble Supreme Court has refused to entertain a petition which sought a direction from the court to the poll panel to stop the use of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) in elections, saying that the High court should be approached first in this case.

The writ petition was filed by Kanyakumari-based Advocate C R Jaya Sukin which said that countries like the United States of America, Japan, Germany, and others have rejected the use of EVMs during the elections, and have chosen the ballot system of voting instead. This should indicate that EVMs are not satisfactory instruments to be used for the election process in a country. As per the petition, EVMs can be easily hacked whereas the Ballot system is safe. The lawyer also claimed,

EVM hacking is a threat that has been given not only in India but in many other countries, which is why several of them have banned it. EVMs, like all other machines, are prone to errors and malfunctioning. No machine ever made anywhere in the world is infallible.

The Plea was heard by the bench headed by CJI SA Bobde, which said that voting through ballot papers was a more “reliable and transparent” method for the electoral process.

The court got irked during the hearing process when it was reflected in the argument that the right to vote was a fundamental right and the continuous use of EVMs in the elections by the Election Commission of India infringes this right.

From where you get this that voting right is a fundamental right,” the bench said while asking the lawyer to withdraw the PIL filed by him.

The Bench comprising of Justices A S Bopanna and V Ramasubramanian observed, “after some arguments, the petitioner prays for withdrawal of this petition with liberty to approach the appropriate High Court. Prayer is allowed. Accordingly, the writ petition is dismissed as withdrawn with the liberty aforesaid.


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