Supreme Court dismisses Petition (PIL) seeking reintroduction of physical paper ballot voting system in elections in India

A public interest litigation (PIL) case asking for the return of the paper ballot voting method in Indian elections was denied by the Supreme Court on Tuesday.

Evangelist KA Paul’s appeal for the right to vote in India via paper ballot was denied by a court of Justices Vikram Nath and PB Varale.

The petitioner claimed that even prominent figures, including YS Jagan Mohan Reddy and Chandrababu Naidu, had raised concerns about electronic voting machine (EVM) manipulation during the hearing.

In response, the bench said that EVMs are not tampered with if you win the polls.

“They claim that EVMs are tampered with when Chandrababu Naidu or Mr. Reddy lose, but they remain silent when they win. How are we able to observe this? This is being dismissed. “You can’t argue about all of this here,” the bench replied.

Paul said that electronic voting machines (EVMs) may be tampered with and recommended that India adopt the paper-based voting methods used by nations such as the US.

Paul said that EVMs are a danger to democracy, noting that even well-known individuals, such as Elon Musk, have expressed worries about EVM manipulation.

He asked for further requests in the petition, such as instructing the Election Commission to bar candidates from running for office for at least five years if they are found guilty of delivering cash, alcohol, or other inducements during an election.