When an election process has commenced and reached an advanced stage, the High Court will not intervene to alter the mode of polling (EVMs vs. ballot papers) in a PIL; the appropriate remedy for aggrieved parties is to file an Election Petition after the declaration of results.

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SHEEL NAGU, CHIEF JUSTICE

1. The public cause raised in these petitions is that the State Election Commission, Punjab (respondent No.2), has decided to conduct municipal elections in the State of Punjab through ballot papers and ballot boxes, instead of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs), which according to learned senior counsel for the petitioners is in gross violation of law laid down by the Apex Court in the case of Association for Democratic Reforms Vs. Election Commission of India and another, (2025) SCC 732, wherein the Apex Court, while declining a prayer for reverting to the traditional mode of ballot papers and ballot boxes for conduction of polling in elections, held thus :-

“76. Nevertheless, not because we have any doubt, but to only further strengthen the integrity of the election process, we are inclined to issue the following directions:

76.1 On completion of the symbol loading process in the VVPATs undertaken on or after 01.05.2024, the symbol loading units shall be sealed and secured in a container. The candidates or their representatives shall sign the seal. The sealed containers, containing the symbol loading units, shall be kept in the strong room along with the EVMs at least for a period of 45 days post the declaration of results. They shall be opened, examined and dealt with as in the case of EVMs.

76.2 The burnt memory/microcontroller in 5% of the EVMs, that is, the control unit, ballot unit and the VVPAT, per assembly constituency/assembly segment of a parliamentary constituency shall be checked and verified by the team of engineers from the manufacturers of the EVMs, post the announcement of the results, for any tampering or modification, on a written request made by candidates who are at Sl.No.2 or Sl.No.3, behind the highest polled candidate. Such candidates or their representatives shall identify the EVMs by the polling station or serial number. All the candidates and their representatives shall have an option to remain present at the time of verification. Such a request should be made within a period of 7 days from the date of declaration of the result. The District Election Officer, in consultation with the team of engineers, shall certify the authenticity/intactness of the burnt memory/microcontroller after the verification process is conducted. The actual cost or expenses for the said verification will be notified by the ECI, and the candidate making the said request will pay for such expenses. The expenses will be refunded, in case the EVM is found to be tampered.

77. The writ petitions and all pending applications, including the applications for intervention, are disposed of in the above terms.”

1.1 The judgments authored in the said case by Hon’ble Mr. Justice Sanjiv Khanna and Hon’ble Mr. Justice Dipankar Datta, read thus :-

(Authored by Hon’ble Mr. Justice Dipankar Datta)

“87. Electronic voting is not something which is prevalent only in India. Multiple countries use electronic voting in varying degrees in their national elections. However, use of EVMs in elections in India are not without its checks and balances. Reasonable measures to ensure transparency, such as tallying VVPAT paper trail in 5 EVMs per assembly constituency or assembly segment in a parliamentary constituency, are already in place after the decision of this Court in N. Chandrababu Naidu v. Union of India. This measure, as has been noticed by Hon’ble Khanna, J., was undertaken out of abundant caution and not as an admission of a flaw in the process.

88. The