HC Directs Delhi University to Secure EVMs Used in DUSU Polls

Justice Siddharth Mridul said that beside EVMs, paper trail and other documentation be also kept safely.

ABVP candidates post win in the DUSU polls. Image used for representational purposes. 

(Photo: PTI)

The Delhi High Court on Monday, 17 September, directed Delhi University to keep securely the electronic voting machines (EVMs) used in the student union election, on a plea by three candidates of the Congress-backed National Students Union of India (NSUI) challenging the polls.

Justice Siddharth Mridul said that besides the Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs), paper trail and other documentation should also be kept safely.

The court also sought the response of Delhi University, chief electoral officer appointed by the varsity, Ministry of Human Resource Development, Election Commission of India and the three Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) candidates who won the recent elections.

Three NSUI candidates, Sunny Chhillar, Meena and Saurabh Yadav, had moved the High Court, challenging the elections on the grounds that voting machines were allegedly tampered with.

‘Seven EVMs Missing’

The plea sought for the EVMs used in the Delhi University Students Union (DUSU) polls to be secured, so as to ensure that they do not go missing. It also alleged that data from seven EVMs had gone missing. The plea alleged that EVMs were tampered with and questioned as to how "privately procured" EVMs could have been used in the polls held on 12 September.

The office of the Chief Electoral Officer in Delhi said on 13 September, that EVMs used in the DUSU election were not issued by the Election Commission and seem to have been procured privately.

The ABVP, student wing of the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh, on 13 September bagged three posts including that of the President in the student union elections.

The NSUI won only one seat, while the AAP's student wing Chatra Yuva Sangharsh Samiti (CYSS), which fought the elections in alliance with Left-backed All India Students Association (AISA), failed to open its account.

Polling took place at 52 centres in the colleges and there were as many as 23 candidates in the fray.