The Supreme Court today clarified that the matter pertaining to Electronic Voting Machine (EVM) data cross-checking against voter-verifiable paper audit trail (VVPAT) records will be heard next Tuesday (April 16).

The petitions were listed today before a bench comprising Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta. Since the bench was hearing another matter, Justice Khanna clarified before rising for lunch break, "in the EVMs issue, we have already said it will come up higher up in the next Tuesday list".

It may be recalled that about a week ago, the matter, which is being pursued by NGO-Association for Democratic Reforms, was mentioned before a Justice Khanna-led Bench by Sr Adv Kapil Sibal. On said occasion, the judge had indicated a likelihood of it being taken up next to next week (ie after 2 weeks), considering the roster and the manner in which cases were being listed.

For a detailed report on ADR's plea and submissions, click here. To understand the underlying controversy, ie the EVM-VVPAT issue, click here.

Case Title: Association of Democratic Reforms v. Election Commission of India & Anr. | Writ Petition (Civil) No. 434 of 2023