Supreme Court Asks ECI To Check Allegation That BJP Got Extra Votes In EVMs During Mock Polls In Kerala

The Supreme Court on Thursday (April 18) asked the Election Commission of India to look into an allegation that during a mock poll in Kerala, extra votes were recorded in favour of the BJP in the Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs).

A bench comprising Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta passed this oral direction when a report regarding the EVM issue was brought to its attention during the hearing of the EVM-VVPAT case.

Advocate Prashant Bhushan, appearing for the Association for Democratic Reforms, cited a report published by Manorama Online about the complaints raised regarding the mock polls conducted on the EVMs in the Kasargod constituency in Kerala. As per the report, both the Left Democratic Front (LDF) and the United Democratic Front (UDF) gave complaints to the District Collector that at least four electronic voting machines (EVM) erroneously registered extra votes in favour of the BJP. 

"Mr Singh, check this up," Justice Khanna told Maninder Singh.

The bench is hearing petitions seeking 100% verification of the Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail slips (VVPATs). Today is the second day of the hearing. The hearing is on progress. Live updates can be tracked here.

Update at 2 PM : ECI official told the Supreme Court that the news report cited was "totally false" and undertook to file a detailed report.