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Association for Democratic Reforms vs. Election Commission of India and Another

Not available · 2024 INSC 341Decided 26 Apr 2024
Not available
Justice Sanjiv Khanna · Justice Dipankar Datta

Background

The Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) and connected petitioners filed writ petitions asking the Supreme Court to intervene in how Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) and Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) slips are used and counted, out of concern that EVMs could be manipulated. The petitioners did not allege any actual wrongdoing by the Election Commission of India (ECI) or that any machine had been tampered with, but argued the possibility of manipulation alone warranted safeguards. They sought alternatives ranging from a return to paper ballots, to giving voters their VVPAT slip to drop in a ballot box, to 100% VVPAT counting instead of the current limited sample-based verification.

Decision Breakdown

The Supreme Court rejected the demands for reverting to paper ballots, for handing VVPAT slips to voters, and for 100% VVPAT counting, holding that the existing EVM-VVPAT system has robust administrative and technical safeguards and that the issue of EVM reliability had already been substantially litigated and settled in earlier cases. The Court examined the technical design of EVMs and VVPATs in detail and found no basis to doubt their security or accuracy. To further reinforce public confidence, however, it issued additional directions: symbol-loading units used from 1 May 2024 onward must be sealed, signed by candidates' representatives, and preserved for at least 45 days after results are declared; and after results are declared, the second- and third-placed candidates may request (at their own cost, refundable if tampering is found) that the burnt memory/microcontroller of EVMs and VVPATs in 5% of machines per assembly segment be verified by manufacturer engineers for signs of tampering.

Lesson Learnt

Courts require concrete evidence of harm, not mere apprehension, before overturning an established public system, but they may still order additional verification safeguards to build public trust even while upholding the system as sound.

Official source (sci.gov.in)View Judgment (PDF)

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