![Plea Against EVMs Raised In Abstract Must Be Deterred: Supreme Court [Read Plea]](/secure/uploads/2022/10/lj_4836_549d7edd-09d9-4365-a55c-c85d4d12d522.jpg)
NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court has rejected a plea by a political party from Madhya Pradesh challenging validity of use of Electronic Voting Machines in elections, saying such questions raised in abstract must be deterred.
A bench of Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Abhay S Oka dismissed a petition filed by Madhya Pradesh Jan Vikash Party with a cost of Rs 50,000.
"The election process under the representation of the People Act, 1951 is monitored by a Constitutional Authority like Election Commission. Electronic Voting Machines (EVM) process has been utilised in our country for decades now but periodically issues are sought to be raised," the bench said.
"This is one such endeavor in the abstract. It appears that party which may not have got much recognition from the electorate now seeks recognition by filing petitions!," the bench added.
Maintaining that such petitions must be deterred, the bench dismissed the petition with costs of Rs 50,000 to be deposited with Supreme Court Group-C (Non-Clerical) Employees Welfare Association within a period of four weeks.
The petitioner led by advocates Varun Thakur and Varinder Kumar Sharma challenged validity of the Madhya Pradesh High Court's order of December 14, 2021 declining to entertain their plea.
The petitioner sought a direction to the EC and others to take effective measures to rule out the discrepancies in the EVMs to conduct the free and fair upcoming assembly and general elections with the purity of the electoral process or they may be directed to conduct the election with the other alternative mode in accordance with law.
Among others, it also sought a direction to the EC to certify each and every machine that it is original and there is no tempering or manipulation and direct the poll panel to conduct the examination from their own regular employee/technical engineer or expert at the time of commissioning/randomization/symbol loading just after the EVMs come into its possession.
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