The High Court of Uttarakhand disposed of a petition filed by former cabinet minister Navprabhat challenging the election commission of India asking political parties to prove that electronic voting machines can be tampered with.
Filing the petition in the high court at Nainital on Friday, Navprabhat stated that his earlier petition regarding alleged tampering with the EVMs during the Vidhan Sabha election is already in the court. In this circumstance the election commission cannot ask political parties to prove tampering with the EVMs, the petitioner had stated.
The petition on Friday was taken up for hearing before the single bench of justice Sudhanshu Dhulia. The high court disposed of the petition observing that the election commission of India could ask that tampering be proved in the EVMs. The court also pointed out that in another case, EVM machines had been sealed.
The Congress leader had stated in his petition that he had earlier filed a petition in the high court regarding alleged tampering with the EVMs during the state assembly elections. That petition is yet to be disposed of by the court. In the meanwhile the election commission of India had asked the political parties to try and hack electronic voting machines, which the election commission cannot do, contended the petitioner. While hearing on the petition, the single bench of the high court observed that the election commission of India was within its rights to invite attempts to prove tampering in the EVMs.