Chandigarh, 22 May (H.S.): The Punjab and Haryana High Court has refused to interfere with the decision to conduct Punjab’s upcoming municipal elections through ballot papers instead of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs). The court observed that the election process had already progressed significantly and the petitioners had approached the court too late.

A division bench comprising Chief Justice Sheel Nagu and Justice Sanjiv Berry dismissed the petitions on Friday, stating that the election schedule had already been announced on May 13 and the last date for withdrawal of nominations had passed on May 19. The bench said that issuing any order or writ at this stage would not be appropriate.

However, the court granted liberty to the petitioners to challenge the election process by filing an election petition after the completion of the polls.

The petitions had challenged the Punjab government’s decision to conduct elections to Municipal Corporations, Municipal Councils and Nagar Panchayats through ballot papers instead of EVMs. Petitioners argued that moving away from EVMs was a “return to a bygone era” and pointed out that constitutional courts had repeatedly upheld the validity of EVM-based voting.

During the hearing, the petitioners also referred to the Supreme Court judgment in Association for Democratic Reforms vs Election Commission of India, arguing that questioning the EVM system weakens democratic processes.

Counsel for the Election Commission of India informed the court that EVMs requisitioned for Punjab elections had already been dispatched from Rajasthan and their commissioning could be completed within a day. Advocate Prateek Gupta told the bench that only the delivery location and authorised receiving officer were yet to be specified by the Punjab State Election Commission.

On the other hand, Punjab’s Advocate General Maninderjit Bedi argued that once the election notification had been issued, the election process could not be interrupted. He also informed the court that the printing of ballot papers had already begun.

The State Election Commission further submitted that even if EVMs became available immediately, deployment and related procedures would require 15 to 18 days, making EVM-based polling impractical with less than a week remaining before the elections.

Hindusthan Samachar / GURSHARAN SINGH