SC verdict on VVPAT verification of votes on Friday

The Supreme Court is scheduled to pronounce its verdict on Friday on a batch of pleas seeking complete cross-verification of votes cast using electronic voting machines (EVMs) with voter verifiable paper audit trail, or VVPAT.

A bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta is likely to pronounce the verdict.

The top court had on Wednesday said it cannot 'control the elections' or issue directions simply because doubts have been raised about the efficacy of EVM, as it reserved its judgment on the clutch of petitions, which also claimed the polling devices can be tinkered with to manipulate the results.

The court said it cannot change the thought process of those doubting the advantages of polling machines and advocating going back to ballot papers.

The bench also took note of the answers to queries it posed to the Election Commission.

It sought answers from an official of the poll panel to five questions related to the functioning of EVMs, including whether the microcontrollers fitted in them are reprogrammable.

After a two-day hearing, the bench had on April 18 reserved its verdict on the pleas.

However, the matter was listed again on Wednesday as the court wanted some clarifications from the EC.

NGO 'Association for Democratic Reforms', one of the petitioners, has sought reversal of the poll panel's 2017 decision to replace the transparent glass on VVPAT machines with an opaque glass through which a voter can see the slip only when the light is on for seven seconds.

The petitioners have also sought the court's direction to revert to the old system of ballot papers.

The seven-phase Lok Sabha polls began on April 19 and will conclude with the announcement of results on June 4.