Greeva Garg –
Published on August 03, 2021, at 5:19 PM
The Delhi High Court has dismissed the plea seeking directions to the Election Commission of India to stop using the Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) and revert to ballot papers in the forthcoming polls in the country.
The division bench comprising of the Chief Justice DN Patel and Justice Jyoti Singh observed that there is no concrete ground in the PIL mentioned by the petitioner lawyer CR Jaya Sukin, to entertain his petition.
The bench stated, “The petition is not public interest litigation at all, this is clearly a publicity interest litigation based on hearsay and baseless allegations and averments.”
While the recent proceeding in the High Court, the petitioner presented four documents in the favour of his petition.
Sukin in his petition stated, “Article 324 of the Constitution of India states that elections conducted by Election commission need to be free and fair, and reflect the will of the voters. The EVMs must be replaced across India with traditional ballot papers. Voting through ballot papers is a more reliable and transparent method for the electoral process of any country.”
The High Court noted that Sukin himself had no knowledge about EVMs at all and stated, “The petitioner has read the news item the filed the writ petition without looking at the EVM and working of the EVM…which is approved by the Election Commission as well as the Parliament.”
The Court ordered, “The writ petition is dismissed with costs of Rs 10,000 to be deposited in four weeks towards Delhi State Legal Services Authority.”
The Court directed the petitioner while dismissing his petition that he can file a fresh petition in this matter but after conducting research and making proper averments.
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