The Supreme Court on Monday asked the 21 Opposition parties seeking increase in random checking of Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) to 50 percent from the existing system of one per each assembly constituency to file an affidavit till April 8 underlining the rationale behind their demand.
The apex court’s direction came after Election Commission of India (ECI) on Friday argued that the petitioners have not come up with a valid reason in support of their demand to alter the existing system, which has been found to be “most suitable”.
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The poll panel said the Opposition parties have not given “even one specific instance” that may help it to conclude that the existing system is not free and fair.
The apex court is hearing a plea filed by Opposition leaders, led by Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu, who seek a direction to the ECI to increase the VVPAT sample survey by cross-checking at least 50 percent voting machines in each assembly seat.
The plea is being heard by a bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Justice Deepak Gupta.