Elections in the country will be held only through electronic voting machines i.e. EVMs. For this, ballot paper will not be used nor will there be any cross checking of VVPAT slips from EVMs. The Supreme Court made this comment while rejecting all the petitions regarding EVM.
The Supreme Court also gave 2 instructions in its decision
The Supreme Court said that this interference in the system would create unnecessary suspicion. We have discussed the protocols, technical aspects in detail. We gave 2 instructions.
First- After completion of the symbol loading process, the symbol loading unit should be sealed. The symbol loading unit should be stored for 45 days.
Second- On the appeal of the candidates, after the result, a team of engineers will check the burnt memory in the microcontroller EVM. This work should be done within 7 days of the declaration of the result. Its expenses will have to be borne by the candidate. If the investigation reveals that the EVM has been tampered with, then the expenditure incurred by the candidate will be re-funded.
The decision was reserved on 24th April
Earlier on April 24, after a 40-minute hearing, the bench had reserved the decision. Justice Sanjeev Khanna had said that we are not hearing the merits again. We want some definite clarification. We had some questions and we got answers. Reserving the decision.