Appeal in SC for safeguarding the EVMs after Lok Sabha elections

An appeal in the Supreme Court sought direction to the Election Commission to guarantee safety and security of electronic voting machines (EVMs) after Lok Sabha polls on Tuesday.

M Srinivasan, President of Tamil Nadu Annal Ambedkar Law Association had filed the appeal, who has mentioned to news reports on misgivings of some opposition parties that EVMs may be tampered with even after the elections.

The Chief Election Commissioner will be focused to make sure that EVMs are not tampered with during the post polls period said the petition, which may come up for hearing next week.

"The only statutory and administrative check available to protect and preserve the confidence in the EVMs was in the hands of Election Commission of India but what is the ground reality is the very impartial functioning of Election Commission of India is at stake," it said.

As suspected it was probable to interfere with the EVMs in broad daylight throughout post poll situations since it was a dark period in which the machines have very little access to outer world except to limited administrative functionaries said the plea.

"What aggravates this petitioner's apprehension was the availability of long gap between the polling date and counting date. The number of day's gap between first phase polling and counting dates is around 40 days and the day's gap between second phases' polling date to counting date is around 35 days," it said.

"The long gap between polling and counting date if goes unchecked, given the weak knee and partial conduct of Election Commission of India is posing a great threat to the possibility of tampering the EVM'S after polling," it added.

The plea also mentioned the news reports associated to a letter written by 66 former bureaucrats and ambassadors to the President of India inquiring the unbiased functioning of the poll panel and had articulated their genuine suffering on the all-time low weak knee conduct of the EC.