The Supreme Court has reserved its decision on the demand for 100% cross-checking of Electronic Voting Machine (EVM) votes and Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) slips.

 During the hearing of petitions demanding verification of votes cast on EVMs with paper slips through the VVPAT system, the court stated that it is not the controlling authority for elections. Therefore, a constitutional authority cannot direct the functioning of the Election Commission. The bench of Justice Sanjeev Khanna and Justice Dipankar Dutta questioned whether it could take action merely on the basis of suspicion. The court also stated that it cannot issue a Supreme Order simply on the basis of suspicion as it is not out to change anyone's thought process. If someone has already decided on their thought process, the court must keep it the same. The petitions have sought a direction to verify every vote cast on EVMs with the paper slips generated by the VVPAT system. Currently, this cross-verification is done for five selected EVMs in every assembly constituency. During the last hearing in the Supreme Court, the petitioners had raised the issue of public trust and made comparisons with European countries. However, the court rejected such comparisons, stating that the challenges here are different. The Election Commission stressed that the existing system is infallible. The Supreme Court sought some clarifications from the Election Commission regarding the microcontrollers in the system and whether they could be reprogrammed.

The Election Commission replied that all three units, CU, BU, and VVPAT, have their microcontrollers and are engaged in these. They have one-time programs. All microcontrollers are one-time programs. At the time of making such arrangements, they cannot be changed. Prashant Bhushan argued that these microcontrollers have a flash memory that can be reprogrammed. Therefore, to say that its microcontroller is not reprogrammable is not correct. Computer experts also say this. When Prashant Bhushan asked whether it is possible to load any malicious program in flash memory, the Supreme Court commented that it cannot issue a Supreme Order on the basis of doubt. The Supreme Court reserved its decision, saying that it cannot control the elections.

Also Read:  Patanjali's Misleading Advertisement Case: Baba Ramdev Appears for Supreme Court Hearing Amid Public Apology

Could Pakistan face a significant downfall by 2033 due to its possession of nuclear weapons?

 Naima Khatoon has written history at Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) by becoming its first female Vice Chancellor in a century.

 Abhishek Banerjee was safe from a potential attack in Bengal as the police arrested terrorists who were doing a recce outside his house.

'Even 5 Years Is Not Enough', Firmly Rejects Plea for a Three-Year Bachelor's Degree in Law 

 Madhavi Lata clarified that she is not against Muslims in regard to the incident where she allegedly shot an "arrow" at a group of Muslims.

Lok Sabha Election 2024 :