Delhi HC Rejects AAP MLA Somnath Bharti’s Plea For Preserving Burnt Memory Of EVMs Used In New Delhi Constituency Election
The Delhi High Court has rejected AAP MLA Somnath Bharti’s petition for preserving the burnt memory of the EVMs used during the election of the New Delhi Constituency.
The petitioner, Somnath Bharti, had filed an election petition under Sections 80 and 81 of the Representation of the People Act, 1951 (the Act) challenging the election result of the New Delhi Constituency, where BJP’s Bansuri Swaraj (respondent) was the highest polled candidate and hence, declared elected.
A Single Bench of Justice Manmeet Pritam Singh Arora observed, “Therefore, the oral prayer of the Petitioner for seeking a direction to the ECI to provide the Petitioner with the burnt memory of all the 1489 EVMs used in this election is hereby rejected and it is clarified that Respondent No. 3 is at liberty to release 1490 EVMs used in this election to the ECI for purposes of other elections.”
Advocate Anwesh Madhukar appeared for the petitioner, while ASC Yasir Rauf Ansari represented the respondent.
The petitioner had earlier raised objections regarding the counting of Voter Verified Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) slips at one of the Polling Stations. However, during the course of the hearings, the petitioner expanded his request, seeking the retention of the burnt memory of all 1489 EVMs used across the constituency.
The respondent argued that the petitioner’s request to retain the burnt memory of all 1489 EVMs was contrary to the Supreme Court’s decision in Association for Democratic Reforms v. Election Commission of India.
The Apex Court had laid down a provision allowing candidates, who finish in second or third place in an election, to request verification of up to 5% of EVMs per assembly segment, provided they make a formal request within seven days of the election results. However, the petitioner had not submitted such a written request within the stipulated period.
The High Court remarked, “In the facts of this case, the Petitioner has neither submitted an application to the concerned DEO within the stipulated period of seven (7) days after the declaration of the results on 04.06.2024; nor he has sought any prayer [in this election petition] for directing the DEO to carry out EVM C&V process on the EVMs used in the New Delhi Constituency election.”
The Court stated that there was no allegation of tampering or modification with respect to the EVMs in the petition. Therefore, the Court observed, “In the considered opinion of this Court, this relief sought by the Petitioner for burnt memory of all the 1489 EVMs is not maintainable in law, as the same is in contravention of the directions issued in the judgment of the Supreme Court in Association for Democratic Reforms (supra).”
The Bench stated that there was no requirement for ECI to preserve the EVMs deployed in the New Delhi Parliamentary Constituency, considering the forthcoming elections across different parts of the country.
Consequently, the Court held, “In the New Delhi Constituency which is a subject matter of this petition, Respondent No. 1 emerged as the highest polled candidate and she has secured 78,370 more votes than the Petitioner herein. This Court has perused the election petition and is satisfied that the challenge in this petition to the election of Respondent No. 1 from the New Delhi Constituency does not relate to counting or recounting of votes.”
Accordingly, the High Court listed the matter for further hearing on November 11, 2024.
Cause Title: Somnath Bharti v. Bansuri Swaraj & Ors. (Neutral Citation: 2024:DHC:6934)
Petitioner: Advocates Anwesh Madhukar and Prachi Nirwan
Respondent: ASC Yasir Rauf Ansari; CGSC Arunima Dwivedi; Advocates Alok Sharma, Vasu Agarwal and Pinky Pawar
