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The Supreme Court on Tuesday rejected a petition seeking a ban on the use of paper ballots instead of electronic voting machines (EVMs) in elections. The bench of Justices Vikram Nath and PB Varale said that when you win the election, EVMs are not tampered and when you lose the election, EVMs are tampered.
Petitioner KA Paul said that in view of the protection of democracy and the fear of EVM tampering, it is necessary to restart the use of ballot paper in elections. He further said that Andhra Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu and former Chief Minister Jagan Mohan Reddy have also claimed that EVMs can be tampered. The petitioner also objected to Elon Musk’s claim that EVMs can be hacked. However, in response, the Supreme Court bench said that when Chandrababu Naidu or Reddy lose elections, they say that EVMs have been tampered. And when they win they don’t say anything. How do we see it? We reject this argument. Justice Nath said that this is not the place where you can debate this issue. The petitioner said that everyone knows that money is distributed in elections, while the bench said that we have not received any money in any election. The petitioner further said that another request in my petition is to prepare a comprehensive framework to control the use of money and liquor during the election campaign.
Other demands were also made in the application
In the petition, apart from using ballot paper instead of EVMs in the elections, a demand has been made to give many other guidelines. The petitioner demanded that the Election Commission be directed to disqualify any candidate from contesting elections for at least five years if he is found guilty of distributing money, liquor or other material inducements to voters during elections.
What did the petitioner say in the court?
When petitioner Paul said that he has filed a PIL, the bench said that you have interesting PILs. Where did you get these good ideas? The petitioner said that he is the president of an organization which has saved more than three lakh orphans and four crore widows. The bench retorted and said why are you entering this political arena? Your workplace is completely different. The applicant further said that he has traveled to more than 150 countries. After this the bench asked whether voting is done through ballot paper in every country or whether electronic voting is used. The petitioner said that ballot paper voting has been adopted in foreign countries and it should be followed in India also. Then the bench said why do you want to separate from the rest of the world?
Mention of Elon Musk in court
Paul claimed that Tesla CEO and co-founder Elon Musk has also said that EVMs can be tampered with and Chandrababu Naidu and Jagan Mohan Reddy have also said the same. After this the court said that when Chandrababu Naidu lost, he said that EVMs can be tampered. And this time when Jagan Mohan Reddy lost he said that EVMs can be tampered.