Supreme Court junks PIL seeking probe into EVM irregularities

The Supreme Court on Tuesday rejected a public interest litigation (PIL) petition filed by advocate Mehmood Pracha alleging that the Election Commission of India violated the rules governing the conduct of elections through Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) [Mehmood Pracha v. Union of India and Others]..A Bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and PV Sanjay Kumar at the outset stated that the allegations in the plea were vague and a gross abuse of the process of law."What is this? Absolutely vague allegations. What is this writ petitions? A gross abuse of process of law. We don't know when these photos were taken which you have attached. What is this? Appoint a committee under Supreme Court. We deliberately heard the matter earlier because we were conscious about the issue," the Court remarked.It said that any person aggrieved by any issue relating to election can file an election petition before the concerned High Court. "If there is any issue, the authorities will take care of it. If you have any issue with regard to any constituency, you can go to that jurisdiction by an election petition," Justice Khanna remarked.The petition had sought a detailed inquiry by a high powered committee into the allegations."This is a petition with omnibus allegations . We are not inclined to entertain this," the Bench eventually stated while dismissing the PIL..In a judgment rendered on April 26, the top court had rejected a plea to tally every Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) slip with votes cast through EVMs.The top court had observed in that judgment that the procedures and safeguards put in place by the ECI were conducive to free and fair election.However, in the PIL, Pracha sought to highlight various violations by the ECI by placing on record various violations of the Manual on Electronic Voting Machine, the Handbook for Presiding Officer and mishandling of the EVMs before and after polling.The PIL also sought enforcement of laws, rules and protocols to be put in place to govern the conduct of elections through EVMs."The Petitioner has placed evidence in the form of various records, including videography, photographs, letters, documents, etc. which establish that the ECI has acted arbitrarily without adopting the required safeguards conducive to a free and fair election, and continuation of such arbitrary practices without the required safeguards will also adversely impact future elections in India," the petition said.Apart from seeking a detailed enquiry, Pracha said that the top court should periodically monitor the preparedness and conduct of future elections by the ECI. The plea also sought appoint of an Ombudsman/Committee to oversee the functioning of the ECI with the power to hold members of the ECI accountable for any deviation from the established rules..The PIL was filed through advocate RHA Sikandar. Advocate Tasneem Ahmadi appeared for Pracha.