SC EVM Ruling:  The Supreme Court of India rejected a petition alleging irregularities in the operation of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) on Friday, saying that every method has negative and positive points. The bench comprising Justices Sanjiv Khanna, Dipankar Datta and Augustine George Masih, said that the court has already heard many pleas regarding the issues with EVMs.

Petitioner Nandini Sharma submitted the plea. While rejecting Nandini’s petition, the court also dismissed another plea claiming that a total of 19 lakh EVM went missing from the custody of the Election Commission during 2016-19. The petitioner has submitted before the court that these may be used to manipulate the results of the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.

“How many petitions shall we entertain? Recently, we have dealt with a plea related to VVPAT (voter-verifiable paper audit trail). We cannot go by assumptions. Every method has its plus and minus points. Sorry, we cannot entertain this under Article 32,” the bench told petitioner Nandini Sharma, who appeared in person.

Article 32 enables a citizen to the apex court directly in case there is a violation of the fundamental rights of that citizen.

The bench while pronouncing the order recorded that it has examined many petitions on the same issue, which raises similar questions on the EVMs. Justice Khanna said more than 10 cases have been examined on the issue by the court at different times.

Sharma had arrayed the Election Commission of India and six political parties in her plea and sought direction for the use of ballot papers instead of EVMs for the upcoming Lok Sabha election. She also sought to set aside Section 61A of The Representation of the People Act, 1951 which allows the use of voting machines for the elections.

Meanwhile, a bench headed by Justice BR Gavai dismissed another petition filed by the Indian New Congress Party (INCP).