Greeva Garg –
Published on : September1, 2021 at 22:08 IST
The Election Commissioner of India (ECI) has moved the Supreme Court of India, filing the plea alleging that Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) and Voter Verified Paper Audit Trail Machines (VVPATs)used in the Assembly polls of six States are lying unused due to an order extending the limitation period for filing election petitions during the second wave of COVID-19.
The petitioner sought for an urgent hearing of the plea, submitting that timeline for filing election pleas need to be fixed and machines should be released in Assam, Kerala, Delhi, Puducherry, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal.
“All the EVMs and VVPATs belonging to the Election Commission of India that were used in recently held Assembly elections are blocked and cannot be used in future/upcoming elections,” the plea stated.
“Resultantly, we have to maintain these EVMs and VVPAT machines and hearing is necessary as elections in states like Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Punjab are coming up,” the Senior Lawyer Vikas Singh stated, adding that these machines would be needed for upcoming polls.
The Bench headed by Chief Justice of India (CJI) NV Ramana, and comprising Justice Surya Kant and Justice AS Bopanna decided to take up the matter next week.
On April 27, 2021, CJI passed the order on the onset of COVID relaxing the statutory period of filing election petitions under The Representation of the People Act, 1951. Because of this order by the Supreme Court, EC is unable to use many EVM and VVPAT machines.
Also Read: Delhi HC dismisses plea for replacing of EVMs with Ballot Papers
