Gujarat HC issues notice to EC over EVMs and VVPATs

Acting on a petition moved by Congress, the Gujarat High Court on Monday issued a notice to the Election Commission and asking it to respond by Nov 13.

The Congress’ state unit, in the petition, has sought court’s intervention over faulty Electronic Voter Machines (EVMs) and Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPATs), further asking that they not be used in the upcoming polls in the state.

Talking over the phone from Ahmedabad, advocate PS Champaneri, who filed the petition, told National Herald that the usage of the faulty machines in the election would not only be unethical, but also a violation of the fundamental rights guaranteed under Article 19 (1) (a) of India’s Constitution.

“The Article guarantees freedom of expression but if the voting machines are tampered, how could one exercise their freedom of expression in the election?” he asked.

The notice was issued by a division bench of Justice Akh il Kureshi and Justice A J Kogji. It was issued to the EC, the state chief electoral officer and Centre.

Referring to election commission’s own submission, Congress had said that around seven per cent of the total VVPAT units were found to be defective during the first level checks.

“BB Swain, Chief Electoral Officer and Chief Election Commissioner, Gujarat, had stated that a total of 75,196 ballot units were brought, out of which 2,907 ballot units were found to defective; whereas 62,666 control units were brought and out of this, 3,245 control units were found defectives; whereas out of 70,182 VVPATs, 3,550 were found to be defective,” the petition reads.

“The percentage of rejection of VVPATs is the highest in the Jamnagar, Devbhumi, Dwarka and Patan districts. Out of total 70,182 VVPATs, it is said that 46,000 units were transported to Ahmedabad through road or other means of transportation. The possibility of tempering could not be ruled out,” said Champaneri.

Congress also asked the court to direct the EC, or itself set up an expert committee to look into the defective machines.

Elections in the state will be held in two phases on December 9 and December 14, and the counting will be held on December 18.

It is important to note that after Supreme Court’s direction, the EC for the first time decided to use VVPATs across all booths in 182 assembly seats in Gujarat.

In 2013, the Supreme Court had asked the Commission to introduce in a phased manner the paper trail in Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) for the 2014 Lok Sabha elections. The Supreme Court had said that the usage of VVPATs would “ensure the accuracy of the voting system.”