The Supreme Court on Monday dismissed as withdrawn a petition, which challenged the Delhi High Court verdict of September 1 that refused to order fresh reconvening of the First Level Checking (FLC) of EVMs and VVPATs in all 11 districts of the national capital for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
The Bench of Chief Justice of India (CJI) D.Y. Chandrachud, Justice J.B. Pardiwala and Justice Manoj Misra passed the orders on a petition filed by the Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee (DPCC) President Anil Kumar.
The Apex Court observed that the Committee chose not to participate in the FLC, while other political parties actively took part in the same. It added that interference at this stage would delay the entire election schedule.
The petitioner argued that only the Delhi Congress had come forward during the FLC process. He said when EVM machines were dispatched from the warehouse of the concerned DM, they prepared a list of the unique identity of each machine.
The DPCC chief said what happened to the machines on the way no one knew. The machines were received in the Delhi warehouse and there was no tally on numbers sent and the ones received.
He alleged that the respondents wanted the Committee to accept that all machines were in the FLC halls.
The Apex Court observed that the High Court had examined the procedure and that the involvement of political parties was just one step in the process. The absence of some parties did not mean the entire process should come to a halt, it added.
The petitioner clarified that his intention was not to challenge the process after it had concluded.
Reiterating the comprehensive nature of the electoral process and the widespread faith that political parties had in the EVM system throughout India, the CJI told the petitioner that it was a very detailed process. The parties had faith in EVM and it was replicated all across India, he added.
The DPCC chief then withdrew the plea.
On September 1, the High Court had observed that the Election Commission of India (ECI) operated on strict timelines and any alterations like re-initiation of the FLC process would be a significant regression.
The Division Bench of Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma and Justice Sanjeev Narula further rejected the petitioner’s argument that serial numbers of EVMs should be provided to the representatives of the political parties before inspection.