Patole moves HC, urges it to ensure CCTV cameras in EVM strongrooms function properly

Congress candidate from Nagpur Nana Patole moved the Bombay High Court Saturday, seeking an order to authorities to ensure that the CCTV cameras installed outside two strongrooms in the city, where electronic voting machines are kept, function properly.

The Nagpur bench of the high court issued notices to the returning officer, Chief Electoral Officer of Maharashtra and the Chief Election Commissioner, seeking their reply by Sunday.

Patole is pitted against Union minister and senior BJP leader Nitin Gadkari in the Lok Sabha election.

The petition claimed that between March 25 and 28, when EVMs were being tested ahead of elections, the CCTV cameras outside the two strongrooms were not working.

Had the CCTV cameras been functioning, the petitioner be provided footage of the two strongrooms, the petition has demanded according to Patole's lawyer Rafique Akbani.

A division bench of justices R K Deshpande and S M Modak noted that prima facie (on the face of it) there was no reason to doubt the election process.

However, "we expect the respondents to take into consideration the grievances of the candidates which shall help in maintaining transparency and security in the storage of EVMs and VVPATs," the court said.

"The Lok Sabha constituency in question is sensitive and it is from that point of view , we issue notice to respondents, making it returnable tomorrow," the order stated.

Patole had alleged at a press conference that CCTV cameras at two EVM strongrooms were not functioning.