HK Patil seeks SC judge-led probe into 1.9 mn ‘missing’ EVMs

PTI, May 9, 2022, 8:45 AM IST

Bengaluru: A delegation led by Senior Karnataka Congress leader and MLA H.K. Patil submitted a memorandum to Legislative Assembly Speaker Vishveshwara Hegde Kageri and sought a probe into the issue of 19 lakh “missing” Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs).

They demanded that the probe has to be conducted by the Special Committee headed by a Judge of the Supreme Court.

Patil stated that he had submitted 2,750 pages of documents in this regard. The document comprised the RTI replies by the Election Commission of India (ECI) and issues that have been taken up by the courts.

Addressing press conference after submission of documents, Patil expressed his anger over inordinate delay in taking up petitions by the courts regarding election petitions and EVMs.

“There has been debate in the country and the issue is surrounded by too much of confusion. The ECI should organise ethical hackathon in Vidhana Soudha (Legislative Assembly),” Patil said.

“I have raised issues related to financial transactions that are taking place within the Election Commission. I have also discussed about voters being paid through digital platforms,” he asserted.

“In backdrop to this, we have urged to form a special committee headed by a Judge of the Supreme Court to look into the matter of 19 lakh missing voting machines. I have provided inputs of Public Interest Litigation (PIL) submitted by RTI activist Manoranjan Roy,” the Congress leader told the mediapersons.

“EVMs which are older than 15 years should not be used. There had been a committee report in 2007 on how to dispose old EVMs. From 2007 to 2018, for 12 years, the Election Commission turned a blind eye to this recommendation,” Patil said, adding that the Speaker should issue summons to the Election Commission and resolve this matter.