Lok Sabha Elections 2024 : Supreme Court Dismisses Plea For Probe Into Alleged EVM Manipulations, Violations By ECI

The Supreme Court today dismissed a plea seeking inquiry into the allegations of Electronic Voting Machine (EVM) manipulations and violations by the Election Commission of India during Lok Sabha Elections 2024.

A bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Sanjay Kumar passed the order, observing that omnibus and vague assertions had been made by the petitioner and that he has already approached the Delhi High Court with regard to a particular constituency.

The petition was filed by Advocate Mehmood Pracha, who contested as an independent candidate from Rampur constituency in the 2024 general elections.

"We are not inclined to entertain the present petition which makes omnibus, vague and rather wide assertions. It is to be noted that the petitioner has already approached the Delhi High Court by way of a writ petition with regard to a specific constituency. It is for the candidates, or in case the petitioner has any specific information, to approach the concerned court including jurisdictional High Court. The writ petition is dismissed", dictated Justice Khanna.

The hearing began with Justice Khanna expressing serious displeasure with the assertions made in the petition and the reliefs sought.

"What is this? Absolutely vague allegations...you want the Committee to go into everything, all the elections! What is this type of writ petition? A writ petition for a particular constituency is already pending, if you have any other issue regarding any other constituency, go to that High Court. [...] abuse of process of law...We have seen the photographs, etc., we don't know what is which one...when the machines are taken out, there are some machines which are taken out for display...at that time when they are taken out and shown to the candidates how the working is done...we don't know when these photographs were taken. We can't go into all that. And what is this setup a Supreme Court committee? What is this happening?" the judge exclaimed.

In response, Advocate Tasneem Ahmadi (for petitioner) replied, "the only reason is to ensure that there are no breaches".

Stating that the bench was conscious of the same, Justice Khanna reminded that the EVM-VVPAT case was re-heard to address certain apparent issues and directions were passed. The judge also said that wherever there is a problem, the concerned candidates can take care of it.

"Political parties are conscious of where there is any breach or wrongdoing...they will take care of it. If you have any specific allegation, please go to the court or the candidate should file an election petition", Justice Khanna said.

When Ahmadi requested that the plea may be considered as a representation and the petitioner permitted to approach the ECI, the bench declined.

Through the petition, petitioner-Mehmood Pracha had sought the constitution of a High Powered Committee to be chaired by a retired judge of a Supreme Court. As per him, the Committee needed to look into the alleged violations of the assurances given by the ECI in the EVM-VVPAT case, as well as the laws, rules, and protocols governing the conduct of elections.

A few months back, the Supreme Court had rejected the pleas seeking 100% cross-verification of EVM data with Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) records. It was observed that the suspicions regarding EVM tampering were unfounded and reverting back to the ballot paper system, as prayed, would undo the reforms that have taken place over the years.

Notwithstanding, the present petitioner filed a plea arguing that the election body acted arbitrarily without adopting the required safeguards. In this regard, he referred to certain records, including videos, photographs, letters, documents, etc. It was added that if the same was allowed to continue, future elections in India would be adversely impacted.

“The present petition seeks to place on record various violations of the Manual on Electronic Voting Machine, the Handbook for Presiding Officer, mishandling of the EVMs before and after polling, the malafides and arbitrariness of the Election Commission of India (ECI) in the election process, etc.,” the petition stated.

The matter was initially listed before a bench of Justices Surya Kant and Ujjal Bhuyan, however, it was of the view that it ought to be heard by Justice Sanjiv Khanna, who was the senior judge on the bench that passed the EVM-VVPAT judgment. Accordingly, the matter was adjourned, with direction to list it before a bench led by Justice Khanna, subject to the orders of the CJI.

For more details on the petition, click here.

Case Title: MEHMOOD PRACHA Versus ELECTION COMMISSION OF INDIA, W.P.(C) No. 473/2024