Supreme Court dismisses PIL seeking paper ballot voting system in elections

The Supreme Court, on November 26 dismissed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) petition which sought that the physical paper ballot voting system in elections be reintroduced in India, replacing Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs).

The plea which was filed by evangelist KA Paul seeking physical ballot voting was dismissed by the Court, consisting a bench of Justices Vikram Nath and PB Varale.

During the hearing, the petitioner said that even leaders like Chandrababu Naidu and YS Jagan Mohan Reddy had questioned Electronic Voting Machine (EVM) tampering. 

To this the bench said what happens is, if you win the elections, EVMs are not tampered. 

"When Chandrababu Naidu or Mr Reddy lost, they say that EVMs are tampered and when they won, they don't say anything. How can we see this? We are dismissing this. This is not the place where you argue all of this," said the bench. 

Paul said that EVMs could be tampered with and suggested that India should follow the practices of countries like the United States which use paper ballots instead of EVMs. 

EVMs pose a threat to democracy, said Paul adding that even prominent figures like Elon Musk had voiced concerns over EVM tampering.

In the petition, he also sought other prayers including issuing directions to the Election Commission to disqualify candidates for at least five years if found guilty of distributing money, liquor and other inducements during elections.