'EVM tampered when you lose, it's not when you win': SC junks plea for reverting to paper ballots

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Tuesday dismissed a plea seeking to revert to paper ballot voting in elections in the country, saying allegations of tampering with electronic voting machine (EVM) raked up only when people lose polls.

"What happens is, when you win the election, EVMs are not tampered with. When you lose the election, EVMs are tampered (with)," remarked a bench of Justices Vikram Nath and P B Varale.

Apart from ballot paper voting, the plea sought several directions including a directive to the Election Commission to disqualify candidates for a minimum of five years if found guilty of distributing money, liquor or other material inducement to the voters during polls.

When petitioner-in-person K A Paul said he filed the PIL, the bench said, "You have interesting PILs. How do you get these brilliant ideas?".

The petitioner said he is the president of an organisation which has rescued over three lakh orphans and 40 lakh widows.

"Why are you getting into this political arena? Your area of work is very different," the bench retorted.

After Paul revealed he had been to over 150 countries, the bench asked him whether each of the nations had ballot paper voting or used electronic voting.

The petitioner said foreign countries had adopted ballot paper voting and India should follow suit.

"Why you don't want to be different from the rest of the world?" asked the bench.

There was corruption and in June 2024, the Election Commission announced they had seized Rs 9,000 crore, Paul responded.

"But how does that make your relief which you are claiming here relevant?" asked the bench, adding "if you shift back to physical ballot, will there be no corruption?".

Paul claimed CEO and co-founder of Tesla, Elon Musk, stated that EVMs could be tampered with and added TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu, the current chief minister of Andhra Pradesh, and former state chief minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy had claimed EVMs could be tampered with.

"When Chandrababu Naidu lost, he said EVMs can be tampered with. Now this time, Jagan Mohan Reddy lost, he said EVMs can be tampered with," noted the bench.

When the petitioner said everybody knew money was distributed in elections, the bench remarked, "We never received any money for any elections." The petitioner said another prayer in his plea was the formulation of a comprehensive framework to regulate the use of money and liquor during election campaigns and ensuring such practices were prohibited and punishable under the law.

The plea further sought a direction to mandate an extensive voter education campaign to raise awareness and importance of informed decision making.

"Today, 32 per cent educated people are not casting their votes. What a tragedy. If democracy will be dying like this and we will not be able to do anything then what will happen in the years to come in future," the petitioner said.

In April, the top court dismissed a batch of petitions seeking a return to the paper ballot system.

Terming the suspicion of manipulation of the EVMs "unfounded", the apex court then rejected the demand for reverting to the old system, saying the polling devices were "secured" and eliminated booth capturing and bogus voting.

However, the top court opened a window for aggrieved unsuccessful candidates securing second and third places in poll results and allowed them to seek verification of microcontroller chips embedded in five per cent EVMs per assembly constituency on a written request upon payment of a fee to the poll panel.

It directed that from May 1, the symbol loading units should be sealed and secured in a container and stored in a strongroom along with the EVMs for a minimum period of 45 days post-declaration of results.