New Delhi | The Delhi High Court on Monday rejected the plea of AAP leader Somnath Bharti seeking a direction to the Election Commission of India (ECI) to provide him with the burnt memory of EVMs used for the New Delhi constituency during the Lok Sabha elections.
The high court, however, directed the returning officer concerned that all VVPATs paper slips be taken out from the drop box of VVPATs and be kept in a paper envelope as per the procedure prescribed by the ECI.
The court was hearing a petition by Bharti challenging the election of BJP MP Bansuri Swaraj to the New Delhi Lok Sabha seat on grounds of alleged corrupt practices.
“The dispute in the suit is not regarding counting of votes. There is no requirement for the ECI to preserve the EVMs considering the forthcoming elections across the country.
“The prayer of the petitioner seeking a direction to the ECI to provide him with the burnt memory of 1,489 EVMs used in this election is rejected and it is clarified that respondent 3 (returning officer) is at liberty to release the EVMs used for New Delhi constituency elections for the purposes of other elections,” Justice Manmeet PS Arora said.
The court said though there is no dispute regarding counting or recounting of votes, however, in terms of the statement made by the counsel for ECI on August 20, the commission is directed that all VVPATs paper slips taken out from the drop box of VVPATs and kept in a paper envelope as certified and be preserved as per the procedure prescribed by the poll panel till the next date of hearing.
The counsel for ECI, on August 20, had stated that printed VVPAT paper slips have been preserved as per the relevant clause of the 'Manual on Electronic Voting Machine' and should be made available as per the court’s directions for the adjudication of this petition.
The court had earlier issued notice and sought response of Swaraj on the petition challenging her election.
It had deleted former AAP minister Raaj Kumar Anand -- who contested the 2024 Sabha polls on a Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) ticket but joined BJP after the results -- from the array of parties on the ground that no cause of action was made out against him.
All three had contested from the New Delhi Lok Sabha seat.
While Bharti secured 3,74,815 votes, Swaraj polled 4,53,185.
The petition, filed under Sections 80 and 81 of the Representation of the People Act, accused Swaraj, her election agent, and others of having engaged in corrupt practices.
The plea also alleged that Anand contested the election on a BSP ticket to help Swaraj by cutting into AAP's vote share. He later joined the BJP on July 10, the plea said.
The plea claimed that on the election day, the petitioner was shocked during his visits to polling booths across the constituency to see that Swaraj's polling agents had pamphlets displaying her ballot number, photo, election symbol and photograph of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and were showing them to the voters and asking them to vote for ballot no.1.
"...such an act certainly qualifies to be a corrupt practice. This was also reported to the respondent no. 3 (returning officer) but all in vain," it alleged.
