Introduction 

The Supreme Court has received a PIL case claiming irregularities in the Election Commission of India’s (ECI) acquisition of Electronic Voting Machines (EVM). The petitioner in the PIL (Public Interest Litigation) claimed that while having shown the EVMs as having been acquired, the ECI had not in fact made the purchase.

Relevant Provisions 

The Constitution established the Election Commission of India (ECI) under Article 324, which states that the ECI shall be in charge of managing, directing, and controlling all elections for the offices of the President and Vice-President as well as for Parliament and State legislatures.

Courts Observation 

A public interest litigation (PIL) case claiming irregularities in the purchase of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) by the Election Commission of India (ECI) was dismissed by the Supreme Court on a bench headed by Chief Justice of India (CJI) DY Chandrachud. Furthermore, he argued that while the cost of elections is excessive, that is the price you pay for democracy. The court will now abstain from interfering and question the autonomous organization’s election commissioner about how much they spent on EVM and how much it cost to run the election. 

The court additionally noted that the ECI’s involvement in maintaining the integrity of the elected legislative bodies in the nation has given Indian citizens a very high level of confidence. But in order for ECI to guarantee the proper operation of democracy through free and fair elections, the legal ambiguities must be resolved.

The petition was denied because, according to the court, the issue of ECI’s acquisition of EVMs did not fall under the purview of Article 32, which deals with the ability to petition the Supreme Court for the enforcement of fundamental rights.