SC dismisses plea seeking 100 pc counting of the VVPAT slips

IANS April 7, 2025 134 views

The Supreme Court has firmly rejected a Public Interest Litigation seeking mandatory 100% manual counting of VVPAT slips alongside electronic voting machine tallies. Led by Chief Justice Sanjiv Khanna, the judicial bench maintained that voters' fundamental rights do not automatically translate to comprehensive physical vote verification. This decision reaffirms the Election Commission's current electoral methodology and follows a similar dismissal of related petitions in April 2024. The court emphasized that while vote accuracy is crucial, the proposed verification method is not legally mandatory.

"The fundamental right to vote does not equate to 100% VVPAT slip counting" - SC Bench
New Delhi, April 7: The Supreme Court on Monday dismissed a plea seeking direction to the Election Commission of India (ECI) that there should be 100 per cent manual counting of the VVPAT slips in addition to electronic counting by the control unit of Electronic Voting Machines (EVM).

Key Points

1

Supreme Court bench declines to interfere with Election Commission's voting process

2

PIL seeking comprehensive VVPAT verification dismissed

3

Prior similar petitions already rejected in April 2024

4

Voting accuracy affirmed through existing EVM mechanisms

A bench of CJI Sanjiv Khanna and Justices Sanjay Kumar and K.V Viswanathan declined to interfere with the decision of the Delhi High Court which had earlier dismissed the public interest litigation (PIL) filed by the appellant.

During the course of the hearing, the CJI Khanna-led Bench remarked that it would not be examining the same issues over and over again.

Ultimately, the apex court dismissed the special leave petition filed by the appellant-PIL litigant.

In April 2024, the Supreme Court had dismissed a clutch of petitions seeking mandatory cross-verification of the votes cast in EVMs with VVPAT slips.

A bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna (now CJI) and Dipankar Datta said that while it acknowledged the fundamental right of voters to ensure their vote is accurately recorded and counted, the same cannot be equated with the right to 100 per cent counting of VVPAT slips, or a right to physical access to the VVPAT slips, which the voter should be permitted to put in the drop box.

The appellant had moved a PIL before the Delhi High Court seeking directions to the ECI to use appropriate prototype of VVPAT system in the future, in which the printer is kept open and the printed ballot, which gets cut and falls out of the printer, is subject to verification by the voter, before providing the same to a presiding officer before leaving the polling station.

Declining to entertain the matter, the Delhi HC, in its judgment passed on August 12, last year, had said that the issue raised in the PIL was no longer res integra in view of the judgment delivered by the apex court.

Reader Comments

R
Rahul K.
This is concerning. Why is there so much resistance to full transparency in our voting process? If we can count all VVPAT slips, why not do it? 🤔
P
Priya M.
The courts have spoken multiple times on this. At some point we need to trust our systems and move forward. Constant challenges just create unnecessary doubts.
A
Amit S.
While I respect the Court's decision, I wish they had explained more clearly why 100% counting isn't feasible. A little more transparency in the reasoning would help people understand better.
S
Sunita R.
The current system of random VVPAT verification seems statistically sound. Counting every single slip would delay results unnecessarily. Let's focus on more pressing election reforms!
V
Vikram J.
Interesting how this keeps coming up election after election. Maybe the EC should consider a public awareness campaign explaining how EVMs and VVPATs work to address these concerns once and for all.
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Neha P.
I voted last week and saw my VVPAT slip clearly. The system works fine! 🇮🇳 We should be proud of our election process - it's one of the most robust in the world.

We welcome thoughtful discussions from our readers. Please keep comments respectful and on-topic.

Tags:
Supreme Court Election Commission VVPAT Electronic Voting Machines CJI Sanjiv Khanna Voting Rights Indian Elections
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