The Election Commission (EC) of India may revisit a rule that provides for prosecution of an elector if a complaint regarding malfunctioning of the EVM or VVPAT machine turns out to be false.
Under Rule 49MA of the Conduct of Election Rules, a voter who claims that the EVM or the paper trail machine did not record his or her vote correctly is allowed to cast a test vote.
If the voter fails to prove the mismatch, poll officials can initiate action against the complainant under Section 177 of the Indian Penal Code, which deals with giving false submission.
A person can be punished with a jail term up to six months, or fine to the tune of Rs 1,000 or both.
Background
The EC has all along maintained that if there is no penal provision, there may be a flood of false claims.
However, this provision should be used as an exception and very rarely.
The intention of the provision was to discourage those who want to disrupt the electoral process by making such complaints.
Earlier in April, 2019 a Supreme Court bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi had sought the poll panel’s response on a plea seeking setting aside of Rule 49MA.
The plea alleged that the provision was unconstitutional as it criminalized reporting of malfunctioning of EVMs and VVPAT machines.
Putting the onus on the elector in case of arbitrary deviant behavior of machines infringed upon a citizen’s right to freedom of expression, i.e. Article 19(1)(a).
