Advocate Mehmood Pracha has filed an interlocutory application in the Supreme Court, seeking directions to conduct all elections in India using traditional ballot papers rather than Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs). Citing the Representation of the People Act of 1951 and the Conduct of Election Rules of 1961, Pracha contends that the law explicitly mandates the use of ballot paper for elections.
Pracha, who is running as an independent candidate for the Rampur constituency in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls, argues that EVMs should only be considered by the Election Commission on a case-by-case basis under exceptional circumstances, with justifiable reasons delineated in specific orders.
The plea emphasizes that paper ballots are integral to the electoral process, providing a level of security and sanctity that EVMs cannot replicate. Pracha’s application is part of a pending case before the Supreme Court, where the Election Commission of India has been asked to respond to a PIL regarding the thorough counting of Voter-Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) slips in elections.
Mehmood Pracha, enrolled with the Bar Council of Delhi and a graduate of the Campus Law Centre, Faculty of Law, University of Delhi, has drawn attention to the inherent limitations of EVMs compared to traditional ballot papers in ensuring the integrity of the electoral process.
Advocates RHA Sikander and Jatin Bhatt have assisted Pracha in drafting the plea submitted to the Supreme Court.
Tags: Supreme Court, Mehmood Pracha, Elections, Ballot Papers, EVMs, Representation of the People Act, Conduct of Election Rules, Electoral Process, VVPAT, PIL
Reference: Representation of the People Act of 1951, Conduct of Election Rules of 1961
