The Nagpur bench of the Bombay High Court on Friday issued a notice to the Maharashtra State Election Commission (SEC) over its decision not to use Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) machines in the upcoming local body elections.
A bench led by Justice Anil Kilor directed the SEC to respond to the petition by next week.
The plea, filed by Congress leader Prafulla Gudadhe through advocates Pawan Dahat and Nihal Singh Rathod, argues that VVPAT machines are essential for ensuring a transparent and verifiable election process.
“The right to vote is a fundamental right, and every citizen has the right to know whether their vote has been correctly recorded,” the petition stated. It further urged the court to either direct the SEC to hold elections using ballot papers or quash its decision to conduct the polls without VVPATs.
Citing a 2013 Supreme Court judgment, the petitioner said the apex court had recognised VVPAT as an indispensable component of free and fair elections. “Without the use of VVPAT, the Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) recording votes become unverifiable,” the plea read.
The petition alleged that the SEC was “hell bent” on using a non-transparent and unreliable system, compromising the fairness of the electoral process. It added that if VVPAT machines are unavailable, elections could be conducted using traditional ballot papers instead.
Elections to various local bodies across Maharashtra are to be completed by January 2026. The SEC, however, has maintained that there is no statutory provision mandating the use of VVPATs in local body elections.
