The Supreme Court has directed the Election Commission (EC) not to delete or alter the data stored in the Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) pending verifications. This decision comes in response to an interim application filed by the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR), which raised concerns over the current verification procedures for EVMs.
The Bench, led by Chief Justice Sanjiv Khanna and Justice Dipankar Datta, instructed the EC to submit an affidavit outlining its Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) for EVM verification. The ADR had alleged that the EC’s SOP did not align with the Supreme Court’s April 26, 2024, verdict on EVMs and the Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) system.
The petitioners are specifically seeking permission to verify the “burnt memory” and Symbol Loading Units (SLUs) of EVMs, which could indicate any potential manipulation of the voting process. The court also took issue with the high cost of Rs 40,000 set by the EC for verification and urged the election body to reduce the cost to make the process more accessible.
The Supreme Court had previously ruled that five percent of the EVMs in each assembly constituency should be subjected to verification post-elections. This verification is to be done by engineers from the manufacturers of the EVMs to ensure the machines’ integrity. Despite dismissing petitions calling for a return to paper ballots or 100% VVPAT cross-verification, the Court has stressed the importance of strengthening the current EVM system.
ADR’s counsel, Prashant Bhushan, emphasized that the aim was to check the EVMs for any possible tampering with both their software and hardware. The Court clarified that the April 26, 2024, ruling did not intend for any modification or reloading of EVM data, but solely focused on verifying the machines.
The matter will be further heard in the first week of March 2025, as the EC prepares to respond to the court’s queries.
