A Public Interest Litigation (PIL) seeking the reintroduction of the physical ballot voting system and other electoral reforms in the Supreme Court Tuesday was dismissed. But weak arguments defeated the petition, as a bench comprising Justices Vikram Nath and P B Varale slated it down.
But the petitioner claimed that political leaders like Chandrababu Naidu and YS Jagan Mohan Reddy raised concern about tampering with Electronic Voting Machines. But the bench threw out those claims, ‘saying, you win the election, EVMs are not tampered with.’ If you lose, EVMs were tampered with.” The court wasn’t buying the petition’s underlying argument, and that is underscored by this remark.
Along with this, the plea also sought several other reforms including disqualifying candidates for at least five years if found guilty for misusing money, liquor or any material inducement to voters during elections. But to these demands, the court decided there was no merit.
Petitioner in person K A Paul — who identified himself as president of an organization that has helped millions of orphans and widows — was questioned pointedly by the bench. ‘You have interesting PILs,’ the judges guffawed. How do you get these brilliant ideas? ‘We questioned why Paul was entering the political arena with his social work background that ‘is pretty different.’
However, the court finally turned down the petition, claiming that the petitioner’s claims were neither rational nor practical. The dismissal adds weight to the remaining section of the judiciary backing the current electoral process and the use of EVMs despite complains of tampering from time to time.
