"EVMs are tampered when you lose, not tampered if you win": Supreme Court rejects demand for ballot paper

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court has asked whether it is right to allege that voting machines were tampered with only when parties lose elections. A bench of Justices Vikram Nath and PB Varale dismissed KA Paul's plea seeking the return of ballot paper voting.

The petitioner pointed out that Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu, former Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy and Tesla CEO Elon Musk had said that voting machines could be tampered with. The court replied that Chandrababu Naidu and Jagan Mohan Reddy had levelled allegations against the voting machines when they lost the elections.

"What happens is, when you win the election, EVMs are not tampered. When you lose the election, EVMs are tampered (with)," the court said.
The court also asked how this was done. Responding to the petitioner's contention that most of the countries have adopted ballot paper voting, the court asked "Why you don't want to be different from the rest of the world?". The petitioner, who heads a charitable organisation, was asked what was his interest in getting into the political arena and whether the move was to turn the court into a political platform.