Supreme Court Dismisses Plea Seeking Paper Ballots; ‘EVMs Tampered Only When You Lose?

New Delhi: Questions over the reliability of electronic voting machines (EVMs) have been raised time and again. Opposition parties, including Congress, point a finger at EVMs almost every time they lose an election.

Even the Supreme Court made such an observation on Tuesday while dismissing a petition seeking the use of ballot papers instead of EVMs in elections.

Rejecting the petition brought by K A Paul, a bench of Justices Vikram Nath and PB Varale said, “What happens is, when you win the election, EVMs are not tampered. When you lose the election, EVMs are tampered (with).”

The petitioner contended that reintroducing ballot papers was essential to safeguard democracy, as EVMs are susceptible to tampering.

The petition stated that Andhra Pradesh CM Chandrababu Naidu and former CM Jagan Mohan Reddy had claimed that EVMs can be tampered with.

The petitioner also cited Elon Musk’s claim that EVMs can be hacked.

The Supreme Court countered the petitioner. “When Chandrababu Naidu or Mr Reddy lost, they say that EVMs are tampered with. When they win, they don’t say anything. How can we see this? We are dismissing this,” Justice Nath said, adding, “This is not the place where you argue all of this.”

Petitioner Paul also requested the bench to issue a directive to the Election Commission of India to disqualify candidates for at least five years if found guilty of distributing money, alcohol or other items to influence voters during elections.

“You have interesting PILs. How do you get these brilliant ideas?” the judges quipped.