EVM-VVPAT row: Supreme Court says it is not Election Commission’s controlling authority

The Supreme Court of Indiaon Wednesday (April 24) said it is not the controlling authority of the apex election body. The top court added that it cannot dictate the functioning of Election Commission, which is a constitutional authority.

Supreme Court made these remarks during the hearing on a bunch of petitions seeking thorough cross-verification of votes cast on Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) with paper slips generated through the VVPAT [Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail] system.

The court has reserved the judgment after a bench comprised on Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Justice Dipankar Datta questioned if it can act on mere suspicion.

Responding to concerns raised by advocate Prashant Bhushan for petitioner Association for Democratic Reforms, the court said, "If you are predisposed about a thought-process, then we cannot help you... we are not here to change your thought process."

The petition sought top court's direction to cross-verify every vote cast on EVMs with the paper slips generated by the VVPAT system. At present, this cross-verification is done for five randomly selected EVMs in every assembly segment of a Lok Sabha constituency.

Previously, the petitioners drew comparisons with European countries that have gone back to the ballot voting system.

The Election Commission asserted that the current system of voting comprised of the EVMs and the VVPAT is foolproof.

An EVM has a control unit and a balloting unit connected by a cable. These are also connected with a VVPAT -- Voter Verified Paper Audit Trail -- machine.

This machine shows a voter if the vote was cast properly and went to the candidate he/she supports.

The court asked election commission if the microcontrollers in the system can be re-programmed.

The Election Commission responded that all three units have their own microcontrollers and these can be programmed only once, an assertion the ADR denounced.

The court said it has to trust the poll body's technical report. "They are saying quantum of flash memory is very low. They can store 1024 symbols, not software. They say that as far as microcontrollers in the CU (control unit) is concerned, it is agnostic. It does not recognise the party or symbol, it knows the buttons," Justice Khanna said.

Also watch |Fineprint: Congress leader Kapil Sibal attends EVM 'Hackathon' in London

When Bhushan asked if it is possible to load a malicious programme in the flash memory, the court made the following remark: "Can we issue a mandamus on the basis of a suspicion? We are not the controlling authority of another constitutional authority, we cannot control the elections."

(With inputs from agencies)