'Don't Try To Bring Down The System Like This': SC Warning To Prashant Bhushan On EVM Pleas

‘don’t try to bring down the system like this’: sc warning to prashant bhushan on evm pleas

The Supreme Court on Tuesday, during its hearing on pleas challenging Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs), rebuked lawyer Prashant Bhushan, cautioning him against attempting to undermine “the system”.

“Returning to paper ballots has its drawbacks. Don’t compare with foreign countries, compare the population. Don’t try to bring down the system like this,” Justice Dipankar Datta said.

The pleas were filed by Association for Democratic Reforms and activist Arun Kumar Agarwal.

The court proceedings, characterized by significant oral remarks from the court, provided insights into various aspects concerning the use of EVMs and Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trails (VVPATs) in India.

Criticising Bhushan for relying on private polls to assert that a majority of voters lack trust in EVMs, the Supreme Court underscored the pitfalls of human intervention in the electoral process.

“Human intervention leads to problems. This includes human weaknesses which includes biases too. Machines without human intervention will work properly, more effectively,” the court stated.

The court stressed the importance of accountability among Election Commission of India (ECI) officers and discouraged any attempts to undermine the electoral process.

“We want to satisfy that there is no tampering, misuse, or abuse. Explain methodology, procedure… submit to us each stage from voting to storage to counting, post counting complaints handling procedure… if there is manipulation, what is the punishment? It’s a serious thing. There should be fear that if anything is done, consequence will be serious,” the top court asserted.

The proceedings have been adjourned to Thursday, April 18.