"Don’t Erase EVM Data..." SC Issues Strict Order to Election Panel

The Supreme Court of India on Tuesday directed the Election Commission of India (ECI) to ensure that no polling data is deleted from the Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) while the machines undergo verification. This directive came in response to concerns raised by the NGO, Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR), which alleged that the ECI's current procedures for verifying EVMs were not in compliance with a previous ruling by the apex court.

The bench, led by Chief Justice of India (CJI) Sanjiv Khanna and Justice Dipankar Datta, sought a response from the ECI after ADR’s petition highlighted discrepancies in the verification process. The petitioner argued that the procedure used by the ECI for verification of EVMs does not align with the Supreme Court's April 2024 order, which allowed candidates in second and third positions to request a post-election examination of the EVMs’ microcontroller and memory for tampering.

The April 2024 order had granted candidates the option to get 5% of EVMs per Assembly segment checked by a team of engineers from EVM manufacturers after the results were announced. However, ADR contended that only mock polls are being conducted for verification, and there is no examination of the software or hardware to determine if the machines have been manipulated.

Advocate Prashant Bhushan, representing ADR, emphasized the need for a thorough examination of the EVMs beyond mock polls, calling for an in-depth investigation into the machines' software and hardware to confirm their integrity. Senior Advocate Devadatt Kamat, representing another petitioner, echoed similar concerns, pointing out that the existing procedure only involves mock polls, which cost a hefty Rs 40,000. Both advocates expressed fears that data from previous polls was being erased during the reloading process.

CJI Khanna clarified that the intent of the Supreme Court’s earlier order was to prevent any disruptions during the counting process while ensuring that the EVMs were properly examined by engineers from the manufacturers. The verification should not involve any tampering or erasure of data.

"We did not want a process where data is reloaded or erased. All we asked for was an engineer’s verification that there has been no tampering with the machine’s memory or microchips," said the CJI.

The bench further questioned the ECI about the practice of erasing polling data from the machines and emphasized that no such erasure should occur. The court also took issue with the high verification cost of Rs 40,000, directing the ECI to lower the fee for this process.

The court adjourned the hearing until March 3, 2025, asking the ECI to submit a short affidavit detailing the verification procedures currently in place. The court also recorded the ECI's assurance that no modifications or corrections would be made to the EVM data in the interim period.