In a blow to opposition parties, the Supreme Court on Tuesday rejected their review petition to increase matching of voter-verified paper audit trail (VVPAT) slips in the ongoing Lok Sabha elections.
The Supreme Court bench, headed by Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi, noted the court was “not inclined to modify our order” of April 8, which had increased matching of VVPAT slips with EVMs from one polling booth per assembly segment to five. The bench also comprised Justices Deepak Gupta and Sanjiv Khanna.
The plea was moved by leaders of 21 opposition parties. Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu, one of the petitioners, was present in the Supreme Court.
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The opposition parties have been seeking verification of VVPAT slips in 50 per cent of polling booths to raise confidence of the citizens in the polling process.
Congress leader and lawyer Abhishek Manu Singhvi, who appeared for the petitioners, said they would have been happy if the Supreme Court had raised the number of polling booths with matching of VVPAT slips to “33 per cent or even 25 per cent”. However, Singhvi said he accepted the Supreme Court's decision.
