New Delhi- The Supreme Court will hear on Friday a plea seeking verification of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) used in the recent Haryana Assembly polls. The petition, filed by Congress leaders, calls for directions to the Election Commission of India (ECI) to establish a memorandum for checking and verifying the original burnt memory/microcontroller of EVM components.

The bench, headed by Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna and comprising Justice Sanjay Kumar, will take up the plea on December 20, as per the Supreme Court's website. This follows a recent decision by a bench led by Justices Vikram Nath and P.B. Varale, who directed the matter to be heard by the bench that issued previous directions on EVMs in April. Justice Nath's Bench determined that the new petition concerned the interpretation and implementation of the previous apex court judgment.

The April ruling, passed by a bench then comprising Justices Sanjiv Khanna (now CJI) and Dipankar Datta, mandated the checking and verification of 5% of EVMs for tampering or modification. This verification was to be conducted by a team of engineers from EVM manufacturers, with the presence of candidates and their representatives optional.

The current petition, filed by former five-time MLA Karan Singh Dalal, argues that the ECI has not yet issued a procedure for verifying the original burnt memory/microcontroller of the four main EVM components: the Control Unit, Ballot Unit, VVPAT, and Symbol Loading Unit. The petition also seeks that the verification exercise be undertaken within eight weeks and be made applicable to the EVM checking and verification forms dated October 14 submitted to the ECI.

The petition, filed through advocate Neha Rathi, emphasizes the urgency of the matter, stating that it significantly impacts the functioning of democracy in India and affects elections nationwide. It contends that the ECI's lack of a verification procedure for the burnt memory suggests a reluctance to subject EVMs to proper scrutiny.