Supreme Court Dismisses Return To Ballot Paper, Says 'Have Not Forgotten' Pre-EVM Era

Supreme Court Justice Sanjiv Khanna said that the petitioner may have forgotten what used to happen before EVM but the judges have not.

New Delhi: The Apex Court on Tuesday rejected the notion of reverting to the use of ballot papers. The bench further questioned the petitioners who were apprehensive about the reliability of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs). Justice Sanjiv Khanna lead a two-judge bench at the hearing. Meanwhile, Advocate Prashant Bhushan represented the petitioner-NGO Association for Democratic Reforms.

The judges mentioned the flaws associated with ballot paper voting. “Fortunately, we are now in our sixties. We have seen what used to happen earlier. Have you forgotten that? If you have forgotten that, I am sorry, I have not forgotten,” said Justice Khanna.When Bhushan raised concerns about booth capturing, Justice Khanna redirected the focus, emphasizing the issues inherent in using ballot papers. 

Bhushan suggested returning to the use of ballot papers, citing examples from European countries and a ruling by the German constitutional court against EVMs. “Earlier, there used to be ballot papers. There can be ballot papers. Most European countries have gone back to ballot papers,” Bhushan said. To this, the court noted that the vast difference in the population of Germany and India. It noted that India has over 97 crore voters while Germany's population is around 6 crores.

The bench, led by Justice Dipankar Datta, dismissed this idea of returning to the ballot papers, highlighting the complexity of conducting elections in India and stressing the need to trust the existing system. The bench further probed into the functioning and security measures of EVMs, while questioning the credibility of a poll cited by Bhushan indicating distrust in EVMs.