Thaindian News

New Delhi, Jan 17 (IANS) The Delhi High Court Tuesday disposed of a plea by Janata Party chief Subramanian Swamy that electronic voting machines (EVMs) were not tamper free and must be rectified to hold fair elections.

Acting Chief Justice A.K. Sikri and Justice Rajiv Sahai Endlaw, however, appreciated the suggestions made to improve electronic voting. But they said they cannot direct the Election Commission to go back to the ballot paper system in place of EVMs.

“It is difficult for this court to direct the Election Commission to have a paper trail of elections conducted through EVMs,” the judges said.

The judges disposed of Swamy’s plea saying that such an issue required a major change in policy decision.

The court suggested that the Election Commission along with the executive and political parties could go for wider consultations.

The Janata Party chief had submitted that either paper printouts should be incorporated in the EVMs or the Election Commission should return to the ballot paper system to avoid tampering.

“The Election Commission should at least provide paper receipts of the votes cast for the voter to verify,” Swamy said before the division bench of Sikri and Endlaw.

“This move would ensure that a vote cast is secured and the election is not rigged,” he said.

Swamy contended that transparency had to be get priority in any election over efficiency.

He explained that EVMs’ database was controlled by a computer chip and it was not tamper-proof. He also cited examples of technologically advanced European nations which don’t use EVMs for this reason.