SC asks Opposition leaders to file reply in a week on EC's affidavit on counting of VVPAT slips

The Supreme Court Monday asked 21 opposition leaders to file within a week their reply on the Election Commission's affidavit on their plea seeking counting of at least 50 per cent of VVPAT slips in Lok Sabha and assembly polls.

In its affidavit EC has said that any further increase in the sample size of verification from the existing norm of one polling booth per assembly segment would lead to very negligible gain in the confidence level, which is way above 99.99 per cent.

It has said that 50 per cent VVPAT slip verification as sought by opposition leaders in each assembly segment of a Parliamentary or Assembly Constituency on an average shall enlarge the time required for counting to about six days.

The 21 opposition leaders led by Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu had sought that VVPAT slips of at least 50 per cent of voting machines in each assembly constituency be checked randomly during Lok Sabha polls.

A bench of Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Justices Deepak Gupta and Sanjiv Khanna said that it wants the petitioners to file the reply to the affidavit by April 8.

Senior advocate Abhishek M Singhvi, appearing for the opposition leaders, said that he needs to file reply to EC's affidavit on three-four points.

EC has further stated: "It is also relevant to mention that in many Assembly Constituencies, there are more than 400 polling stations, which will require about 8-9 days to complete the VVPAT slip count. It is pertinent to mention that demands for re-count that routinely arise of the VVPAT slips themselves, which will compound the time requirement."