Gujarat polls: SC refuses Cong plea to verify VVPAT slips with EVM votes

The bench said: We can't substitute the decision of the Election Commission unless you demonstrate that the poll panel's decision is either arbitrary or not in accordance with the law

The Supreme Court on Friday declined to entertain a plea by the Gujarat Pradesh Congress Committee seeking direction to the Election Commission to count votes through paper trail attached to the EVMs in 20 per cent of the polling booths in Gujarat.

A bench of Chief Justice Dipak Misra, Justice A.M. Khanwilkar and Justice D.Y. Chandrachud said: "We can't substitute the decision of the Election Commission unless you demonstrate that the poll panel's decision is either arbitrary or not in accordance with the law."

Senior counsel Abhishek Manu Singhvi appearing for petitioner GPCC secretary Mohammed Arif Rajput said that even the EC has the apprehension and has provided for the counting only at one booth, that makes it 0.00001 per cent of the 50,000 polling booths where voting took place in Gujarat.

Permitting the petitioner to withdraw the plea, the court asked him to move a substantive petition directly to the apex court seeking electoral reforms with regards to Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail.