The High Court of Karnataka on Wednesday rejected the plea of two NGOs seeking direction to the Election Commission (EC) to verify Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) slips before counting of votes recorded in the electronic voting machines (EVMs).
A vacation Division Bench comprising Justice S. Sujatha and Justice S.G. Pandit passed the interim order declining the interim plea sought in two PIL petitions filed by Bengaluru-based civil society organisations — People’s Union for Civil Liberties, Karnataka, and Daksh.
The Bench directed posting the petitions for hearing after the court reopens on completion of summer vacation. The hearing on the PIL pleas was taken up in a special sitting in the afternoon on a plea made on behalf of the petitioners for an urgent hearing as the counting of votes for the Lok Sabha elections would be taken up on Thursday. The petitioners questioned the correctness of the EC’s rule that allows verification of VVPAT slips only after completion of the last round of counting of votes in EVMs.
“If the VVPAT slips verification is commenced only after the conclusion of the EVM counting, it could result in the leaking of election result to the public, before detection of any discrepancy. This will result in affecting the integrity of the electoral process and is likely to cause a law and order situation and grievous conflict amongst parties and public,” it was contended in the PUCL’s petition.