6 months ago
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The Nagpur Bench of the Bombay High Court connected Friday (November 7, 2025) issued a announcement to the Maharashtra State Election Commission (SEC) connected a petition challenging its determination to behaviour section assemblage polls successful the State without Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) machines. The High Court has directed the SEC to record its effect by adjacent week.
The petition, filed by Congress person Prafulla Vinodrao Gudadhe done advocates Pawan Dahat and Nihal Singh Rathod, called the SEC’s oral announcement connected August 5 “arbitrary, amerciable and beyond its authority.” It seeks either deployment of VVPATs with each Electronic Voting Machine (EVM) oregon a instrumentality to ballot papers, citing law guarantees and Supreme Court precedent.
“The close to ballot is not simply the close to formed a ballot but besides the close to cognize whether that ballot has been correctly recorded,” the petition said. “Right to ballot itself being a law right, helium has each close to cognize if the close helium exercised has been rightly executed.”
Without VVPAT, the petitioner argued, EVMs go “unverifiable,” leaving voters with nary mechanics to corroborate their choice.
Poll delay
The petition traces the contention to the SEC’s nonaccomplishment to clasp section assemblage elections for implicit 4 years, contempt law mandates nether Articles 243K and 243-ZC. It said that though the instrumentality requires elections to beryllium held earlier the expiry of the word of section bodies, the SEC cited a partial enactment by the Supreme Court successful December 2021 to warrant the delay. It was lone aft the apical court, successful May 2025, directed that polls beryllium completed wrong 4 months that the SEC began preparations, it added. Later, connected September 16, the deadline was extended to January 31, 2026, arsenic a one-time concession, with circumstantial directions to marque indispensable arrangements.
Despite these directions, the SEC announced astatine a Nashik property league connected August 5 that VVPAT machines would not beryllium deployed successful the upcoming polls, citing logistical constraints. The petitioner alleges that this determination was ne'er issued successful penning and remains opaque.
Through an RTI application, the petitioner sought a transcript of the SEC’s bid but was informed connected September 24 that nary specified papers exists. A ceremonial practice dated October 6 urging the SEC to callback its oral determination and deploy VVPAT machines besides went unanswered. “Respondent is hellhole bent connected utilizing a non-transparent, unreliable strategy astatine the outgo of fairness of the elections,” the petition alleged.
On October 15, an all-party delegation met with the SEC and raised concerns implicit the non-use of VVPAT. The Commission assured them that a “positive decision” would beryllium announced soon, but nary specified determination has been made public. Meanwhile, the ceremonial announcement of elections is expected astatine immoderate time.
Unverifiable votes
Central to the petitioner’s statement is the Supreme Court’s 2013 judgement successful Subramanian Swamy vs Election Commission of India, which held that VVPAT is an “indispensable request of escaped and just elections.”
The petition argued that without VVPAT, determination is nary mode to ascertain whether a ballot has been recorded successful favour of the chosen candidate. “EVMs signaling votes go unverifiable,” it stated.
The petitioner pointed retired that portion State laws alteration the usage of EVMs, nary predetermination behaviour rules person been framed for their deployment successful section assemblage polls. Existing rules supply elaborate procedures for ballot insubstantial voting, not for EVMs. “Respondent cannot disregard the volition of legislators and unit a method of voting, process of which has not been approved by the house,” the petition said. If VVPAT machines are unavailable, elections should revert to ballot papers arsenic per existing rules.
The petitioner has urged the tribunal to nonstop the SEC to behaviour elections done ballot papers or, alternatively, to deploy VVPAT with each EVM. It besides asked for an interim bid restraining the SEC from utilizing EVMs without VVPAT and requested that litigation costs beryllium imposed connected the Commission.
