Election Commission Moves Supreme Court to Access EVMS Used In 2021 State Elections
(Judicial Quest News Network)
The Election Commission of India has filed an interlocutory application in the Apex Court praying before it to fix timeline for filing election petitions while the orders passed by it continued to be in force
In an IA filed by ECI it seeks directions for fixing a timeline for filing of Election Petitions in the States/Union Territories of Assam, Kerala, NCT of Delhi, Puducherry, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal as in absence of the same, all EVMs used in these States/Union Territories are currently stuck or unable to be used/deployed for upcoming/future elections due to the order dated 27-04-2021 passed by the Supreme Court.
It is trite to mention that the Election Commission of India releases for reuse only those EVMs which have been used in constituencies in respect of which no Election Petition/Writ Petition has been filed raising any EVM related issue. The Applicant further craves for liberty to file a detailed affidavit, if so, required by this Hon’ble Court.
Earlier the Apex Court in it’s order dated 23.03.2020 directed that th “period of limitation in all such proceedings, irrespective of the limitation prescribed under the general law or special Laws whether condonable or not shall stand extended w.e.f 15th March 2020 till further order/s to be passed by this court in present proceedings. It was further directed that this order be brought to the notice of all High Courts for being communicated to all subordinate Courts/Tribunals within their respective jurisdiction.
The Supreme Court Advocate on Record Association (SCAORA) filed an Interlocutory Application highlighting the daily surge in COVID-19 cases in Delhi and sought restoration of the aforementioned order.
Filed through Advocate Amit Sharma, the application submits that the Election petitions may not have been filed as yet in the concerned states because of the Order passed by Apex Court on April 27 this year.
the statutory period for filing Election Petitions as prescribed under the Representation of the People Act, 1951 has also been relaxed. Resultantly, all the Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) and Voter Verified Paper Audit Trail machines (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 petitioner pointed out that it is pertinent to refer to the relevant provisions in the Representation of the People Act, 1951 and Conduct of Elections Rules, 1961 pertaining to Election Petitions and EVMs/VVPATs, which are being reproduced herein under for the sake of convenience:
the Election Commission of India is unable to use a substantial number of EVMs. The same is a cause for concern for the Election Commission of India as it is scheduled to conduct assembly elections in a few states next year. In this context it is pertinent to note that the term of Legislative Assemblies of Goa, Manipur, Uttarakhand, Punjab and Uttar Pradesh are coming to an end in 2022.
It is also noteworthy that in order to ensure proper physical distancing during polls, the Election Commission of India had restricted the number of electors in a polling station to 1000 electors in the latest elections. Therefore, additional polling stations were created in the polling stations where number of electors was more than 1000.
Hence, if we take the same logic, then around 37.73% additional polling stations would need to be created in the aforesaid elections.
Moreover, it is humbly submitted that in order to conduct General Elections to State Legislative Assemblies, generally 135% EVMs and 145% VVPATs (on total polling stations) are provided to States. With expected increase of polling stations, requirement of EVMs and VVPATs may also be further increased i.e., 51% additional EVMs and 55% additional VVPATs need to be allocated in addition to normal requirement of EVMs and VVPATs in these States.
The Application has further pointed out that in this context, it is also pertinent to note that the preparatory work to conduct aforesaid elections, like movement of requisite quantity of EVMs and VVPATs ought to start in July, 2021 itself so that First Level Checking of EVMs and VVPATs, which is a mandatory process, could start from the first week of September, 2021.
In the above facts and circumstances, the Applicant therefore submits that it would be in the interests of justice that the present Application is allowed and that this Hon’ble Court may kindly direct a timeline for filing Election Petitions during the continuance of the Orders passed by this Hon’ble Court extending the normal statutory period of limitation so that the EVMs/VVPATs used in the States/Union Territories of Assam, Kerala, NCT of Delhi, Puducherry, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal may be released on the basis of the status of filing of Election Petitions by that due date.
It is trite to mention that the Election Commission of India releases for reuse only those EVMs which have been used in constituencies in respect of which no Election Petition/Writ Petition has been filed raising any EVM related issue. The Applicant further craves for liberty to file a detailed affidavit, if so required by this Hon’ble Court.
