Chg polls:HC dismisses Cong leader's plea for VVPAT counting in half of booths

The Chhattisgarh High Court Monday dismissed a writ petition filed by a Congress leader seeking counting of VVPAT slips in 50 per cent of the polling booths in all the assembly constituencies during counting of votes Tuesday.

The petitioner Girish Dewangan, general secretary of the Chhattisgarh Congress, had also requested the high court to direct the Election Commission of India (ECI) to maintain security of the EVMs (Electronic Voting Machines) and the strong rooms where they are kept.

A single judge bench of Justice Prashant Kumar Mishra dismissed the plea observing that the court, while exercising power under Article 226 of the Constitution, is not entitled to prescribe a new method for counting of the VVPAT (Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail) slips than the one prescribed by the Election Commission under articles 324 and 329.

"Dewangan had filed the petition on December 6 in view of complaints pertaining to tampering of EVMs in the state," said petitioner's lawyer Satish Chandra Verma.

The petitioner had also sought that security of the strong rooms be strengthened by issuing fresh guidelines and circulars.

"Dewangan also demanded that counting of VVPATs slips (used in EVMs) be ensured in 50 per cent of polling booths in all 90 constituencies, contending that there has been a serious breach of security for EVMs and there are numerous complaints of similar nature," the lawyer said.

Senior lawyer Vivek Tankha also appeared for the petitioner Monday.

Since conclusion of polling, which was held in two phases on November 12 and 20, EVMs have been kept in strong rooms in all the districts.

The Congress has been raising questions over security of EVMs and the strong rooms.