Important first step: Cong after SC seeks EC response on 'complete count' of VVPAT slips
New Delhi, Apr 2: The Congress has hailed as an "important first step" the Supreme Court's notice to the Election Commission and the Centre on a plea seeking a complete count of VVPAT slips and said the matter should be decided before the Lok Sabha polls commence.
In a post on X, Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh on Monday said, "The Supreme Court has issued a notice today to the Election Commission on the issue of VVPATs. It bears constant repetition that the Election Commission has refused to meet a delegation of INDIA (bloc) party leaders who have been demanding 100 per cent VVPATs to increase public confidence in EVMs and to ensure the integrity of the electoral process."
The court on Monday sought responses from the commission and the central government on the plea seeking a complete count of VVPAT slips in polls as opposed to the current practice of verification of only five randomly selected EVMs through VVPAT paper slips.
"The notice is an important first step, but for it to be meaningful, the matter should be decided before the elections commence," Ramesh said.
The Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) is an independent vote verification system which permits an elector to see whether his vote was cast correctly.
The VVPAT generates a paper slip which can be viewed by the voter and the paper slip is kept in a sealed cover and can be opened in case of a dispute.
The top court, on April 8, 2019, had ordered the poll panel to increase the number of EVMs that undergo VVPAT physical verification from one to five per assembly segment in a parliamentary constituency.
A bench comprising justices B R Gavai and Sandeep Mehta took note of the submissions of lawyers representing activist Arun Kumar Agrawal seeking a complete count of VVPAT slips in elections as opposed to the verification of only five randomly selected EVMs through VVPAT paper slips.
It issued notices to the Election Commission (EC) and the central government on the plea which may be listed for hearing on May 17.
Senior lawyer Gopal Sankaranarayanan and advocate Neha Rathi appeared for Agrawal.
The plea assailed the EC's guideline that mandates that VVPAT verification shall be done sequentially, one after the other.
The plea said if simultaneous verification is done and more officers are deployed for counting in each assembly constituency, then complete VVPAT verification can be done in five to six hours.
VVPAT के मुद्दे पर सुप्रीम कोर्ट ने आज चुनाव आयोग को नोटिस जारी किया है।
— Jairam Ramesh (@Jairam_Ramesh) April 1, 2024
चुनाव आयोग ने INDIA गठबंधन के नेताओं के एक प्रतिनिधिमंडल से मिलने से इंकार कर दिया है। हमारी मांग थी कि ईवीएम में जनता का विश्वास बढ़ाने और चुनावी प्रक्रिया की पवित्रता सुनिश्चित करने के लिए VVPAT पर्चियों…
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
'Godman' Kharat held in 8th sexual exploitation case; court denies police remand, sends him to jail
Nashik (PTI): Police took custody of self-proclaimed godman-cum-astrologer Ashok Kharat in an eighth case related to sexual exploitation of women and produced him before a Nashik district court which sent him to jail till May 12 after rejecting the plea for his police remand on Thursday.
On April 29, the Special Investigation Team (SIT) of the Nashik police in north Maharashtra filed a request application in the court demanding Kharat's custody in the eighth case.
After the court granted them the necessary permission, the SIT took custody of Kharat, who was in jail in connection with the seventh case of sexual exploitation registered against him.
The 'godman', named in a dozen FIRs related to rape and financial fraud, was produced before Chief Judicial Magistrate B N Ichpurani in the eighth case through video conferencing due to security reasons.
The eighth case related to Kharat allegedly sexually exploiting a woman who had approached him in search of solutions to her family problems, according to police.
During the hearing, the prosecution demanded police custody of the accused in the latest case.
However, the defence strongly opposed the demand and argued that the SIT was giving same reasons for police custody every time and there was no strong reason for accepting their plea.
The court accepted the argument put forth by the defence and remanded Kharat to judicial custody till May 12 in the eighth case.
The SIT will produce Kharat in the court on Friday again and seek his police custody in the ninth case. As the self-styled godman has been granted judicial custody in the eighth case, he will be sent to Nashik Road Central Jail and the SIT will take his custody from there.
Meanwhile, Kharat's judicial custody in the fourth case ended on Thursday. On April 18, the accused was remanded to judicial custody till April 30 in the fourth case of sexual exploitation of women.
In a related development, the SIT conducted a search at Kharat's office in the 'Canada Corner' area of Nashik city on Wednesday. A 'panchnama' (record of search and seizure proceedings) was conducted and the office was locked and sealed again.
Kharat, a well-heeled man with political connections, was arrested for the first time on March 18 after a woman alleged he had repeatedly raped her for three years.
He is accused of sexually exploiting several women by claiming to have divine powers and knowledge of black magic, and also committing large-scale financial fraud.
The SIT is conducting a probe into 12 cases of sexual exploitation and financial fraud registered against the astrologer in Nashik and Ahilyanagar districts.
