Kolkata, Oct. 12 -- With municipal elections approaching in seven municipalities, the Calcutta High Court on Monday sought a detailed report from the State Election Commission (SEC) on the shortage of electronic voting machines (EVMs) and voter verifiable paper audit trail (VVPAT) machines, amid a dispute over the release of equipment ordered to be preserved in pending election petitions.
A division bench of Chief Justice Ravindra Vithalrao Ghuge and Justice Om Narayan Rai asked the poll panel to clarify whether data recorded by EVMs and VVPAT machines could be stored separately on hard disks and whether such a procedure was legally permissible.
The court is examining the SEC's request to modify an earlier order requiring the preservation of EVMs connected with election disputes.
During an earlier hearing, the Chief Justice had sought the views of parties involved in the election petitions on the commission's plea for release of the machines.
Senior advocate Sabyasachi Chatterjee, appearing in the matter, said the court had directed that the EVMs be preserved in accordance with legal provisions governing the preservation of voting machines and ballot boxes in election disputes.
He submitted that the SEC was seeking a modification of the existing order to facilitate the upcoming elections.
The High Court's latest directions seek to establish whether the proposed method of storing polling data separately would be legally valid, while addressing the commission's concerns over the availability of voting equipment for the municipal polls.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.