oppn parties Supreme Court Rejects 'Blind' Opposition To EVMs

News Snippets

  • Allahabad HC said that the UP Police is acting as law unto themselves as they detained a person unlawfully even before his arrest
  • Kolkata witnesses traffic snarls on the first day of the Durga Puja festival as revellers start pnadal-hopping
  • Neha Bora was subsequently released and Dipke is to appear before a magistrate today at noon
  • Delhi Police detained Cockroach Janta Party founder Abhijeet Dipke, Neha Bora of AISA, student leaders and supporters ahead of a rally in Connaught Place demanding Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar's resignation. The protest followed the detention and jailing of two CJP leaders earlier in the week over demonstrations at Jantar Mantar
  • The Reserve Bank of India is considering further monetary tightening to counter capital outflows and increase the cost of betting against the rupee, according to bankers and analysts cited by Reuters. The measures follow recent rate increases and steps to drain liquidity as pressure on the currency and inflation concerns persist
  • India directed oil marketing companies to stop diverting sugar-based feedstocks for ethanol production in the 2026–27 supply year, according to a new tender issued on Friday. The companies have invited bids for 11 billion litres of ethanol made from alternatives including corn and broken rice, amid concerns about domestic sugar supplies and prices
  • Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said India's trade imbalance with China was growing sharply and attributed the problem partly to restrictions on Indian goods and services entering the Chinese market. China subsequently said it was ready to work with India to address mutual economic and trade concerns; India's trade deficit with China reached $69 billion in the first half of FY2026–27, up 27% year-on-year
  • Indian equity benchmarks extended their recovery on Friday, with the Sensex rising 413.66 points to close at 74,729.27 and the Nifty 50 gaining 148.80 points to settle at 23,146.15. Information technology shares, including Tech Mahindra, Infosys and TCS, helped lift the indices
  • India defeated Zimbabwe by four wickets in the opening women's T20 International in Raipur, taking a 1–0 lead in the three-match series. Deepti Sharma and Niki Prasad combined in an 82-run stand after India's top order collapsed, helping the hosts chase down Zimbabwe's total of 114 for five
  • Indian wrestler Komal won bronze in the women's 59 kg category at the Under-23 World Wrestling Championships in Las Vegas, defeating Kazakhstan's Viktoriia Khusainova 7–2. Fellow Indian Amruta Pujari advanced to the women's 72 kg final after recording two pinfall victories
  • Indian shuttler Jagsher Singh Khangurra secured a bronze medal at the BWF World Junior Badminton Championships in Cairo
  • The Supreme Court of India upheld the Bombay High Court's decision quashing the 2020 write-off of ₹8,415 crore in additional tier-1 bonds issued by Yes Bank (Yes Bank). The court ruled that the bank's administrator lacked the authority to extinguish the bonds under the final reconstruction scheme, strengthening bondholders' claims
  • The Supreme Court issued notices to the Election Commission of India, Delhi Police and opposition leaders, including Rahul Gandhi and Akhilesh Yadav, in separate petitions concerning electoral-roll revision and protests held in Delhi on October 10–12. The court also directed the preservation of CCTV footage linked to allegations of police excesses
  • The Supreme Court ruled that a person converting from Hinduism to Islam cannot automatically claim backward-class reservation benefits in the new religious community solely on the basis of their previous caste status. The judgment upheld the Madras High Court's decision striking down a 2024 Tamil Nadu government order that permitted such certification for specified communities
  • The Election Commission of India ordered a Special Summary Revision of electoral rolls in 14 states and three Union Territories, using January 1, 2027, as the qualifying date for voter eligibility. The draft rolls are scheduled for publication on November 12, claims and objections will be accepted until December 11, and the final rolls are due on January 4, 2027
Delhi HC refuses to ban CJP's Tiranga rally at Central Park in Connaught Place today /////// Police says will control and regulate it /////// NDMC closes the park for the public on Friday and Saturday
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Supreme Court Rejects 'Blind' Opposition To EVMs

By Sunil Garodia
First publised on 2024-04-27 14:13:43

About the Author

Sunil Garodia Editor-in-Chief of indiacommentary.com. Current Affairs analyst and political commentator. Author of Cyber Scams in India, Digital Arrest, The Money Trap and The Human Hack

It is strange that political parties across the spectrum raise questions about EVMs when they lose. The fact is if EVMs were so easy to manipulate, then the NDA would not have lost a single election after coming to power in 2014. Or for that matter, the UPA would not have lost in 2014. Although the NDA is accused of manipulating EVMs for winning, no critic has ever explained how they have lost so many state elections after 2014.

The Supreme Court has rightly questioned this blind opposition to EVMs without supporting data or evidence. This is after the Election Commission has organized several hackathons to assure people about the safety of the voting machines. A return to paper ballot, as the apex court rightly said, would be turning the clock back and ignoring technology that has served the purpose well and without proven blemishes. Clearly, those who petitioned the court to step in and ban EVMs could not make out a strong case against them.

As for political parties, will AAP explain how it keeps winning in Delhi or how it won in Punjab if the EVMs can be manipulated to throw up predetermined results? Or will the Congress explain how it won in Karnataka and Himachal recently and in Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and other states after 2014? Or can the TMC explain why it keeps winning assembly elections in Bengal? If EVMs could be manipulated and if the BJP under Narendra Modi, as alleged, is bent on wiping out the opposition, it would not have allowed these parties to win a single state election post 2014.

In fact, paper ballots were the very basis for goondaism in the voting system. Party cadres used to stuff ballot boxes with ballot papers stamped by them. Ballot boxes were stolen and replaced after all ballot papers inside were also replaced. EVMs offer a transparent and honest voting system and those who doubt their fairness must present data as evidence before making such wild allegations. The Supreme Court has done well to back the Election Commission and the EVMs.