DR. SUBRAMANIAN SWAMYversusELECTION COMMISSION OF INDIA

                    [2013] 14 S.C.R. 565


               DR. SUBRAMANIAN SWAMY                              A
                             v.
            ELECTION COMMISSION OF INDIA
              (Civil Appeal No. 9093 of 2013)
                     OCTOBER 8, 2013
                                                                  B
    [P. SATHASIVAM, CJI AND RANJAN GOGOi, JJ.]

      Election Laws - Election Polls - Voting - Introduction of
Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) with Electronic
Voting Machine (EVM) - Petitions seeking direction to             c
Election Commission of India (EC/) to introduce system of
'paper trail' with EVM - After amendment in the Conduct of
Election Rules, 1961, EC/ successfully used VVPAT system
in the polling stations of Assembly Constituency of Nagaland
- Held: System of 'paper trail' is indispensable requirement
                                                                  0
of free and fair elections and for achieving confidence of the
voters - EVMs with VVPA T system ensure accuracy of voting
system - EC/ permitted to introduce the system in gradual
stages - Conduct of Election Rules, 1961 - rr. 49A to 49X,
66A, 55C, 56C, 57C and Form 17C.
                                                                  E
    The appellant filed writ petition before High Court
seeking writ of Mandamus directing Election Commission
of India to incorporate a system of "Paper trail/Paper
Receipt"_ in the Electronic Voting Machines (EVM) as a
convincing proof that the EVM has rightly registered the          F
vote cast by a voter. The petition was dismissed. Hence
the present appeal.
    The writ petition under Article 32 also prays for writ
of mandamus directing the respondents to effect the
necessary modifications in the EVMs so as to allow the            G
voters to verify their respective votes and attach printers
to EVMs with a facility to print the running record of the
votes. The petitioner also prayed (or a direction to frame
guidelines and to effect necessary amendments in the
                             565                                  H
    566      SUPREME COURT REPORTS            [2013] 14 S.C.R.


A Conduct of Election Rules, 1961.
       The stand of the Election Commission was that the
  apprehension that EVMs could be tampered with, is
  baseless; and that it has been exploring the possibility
  of incorporating a viable Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail
B (VVPAT) system as a part of presently used EVMs to
  make the election system more transparent. Election
  Commission also filed Status Report on the
  developments of WPAT system.
          Disposing of the appeal and the petition, the Court
c
       HELD: 1. It is seen from the records that after various
  deliberations with the experts and persons concerned
  with the technology, the Technical Experts Committee
  approved the final design of WPAT units in its meeting
  held on 19.01.2013. In order to meet the directions of this
D Court and for proper execution of VVPAT system, the
  Eh~ction Commission of lndia(ECI) in its letter dated
  28.03.2013, addressed to the Secretary to the Government
  of India, Ministry of Law and Justice stated that
  necessary ground work for amendment to the Conduct
E of Election Rules, 1961 (in relevant parts in Rules 49A to
  49X, 66A, 55C, 56C, 57C and Form 17C) may be made so
  that the amendment to the Rules can be notified
  immediately which will enable the ECI to use the WPAT
  system in bye-elections in consultation with the political
F parties. By placing all those materials, the ECI requested
  the Ministry of Law and Justice for drafting and notifying
  amendment Rules expeditiously. [Para 22) [575-A-D]
      2. The affidavit dated 21.08.2013, filed on behalf of the
  ECI, shows that the Ministry of Law and Justice, on
G 24.07.2013, referred the draft notification to amend the
  Conduct of Election Rules, 1961 to provide for use of
  WPAT system of elections to the ECI for its views and
  comments. The ECI suggested certain minor
  modifications in the draft notification and sent the same
H back to the Ministry of Law and Justice on 02.08.2013
      DR. SUBRAMANIAN SWAMY v. ELECTION                  567
              COMMISSION OF INDIA
with a request to notify the amendment Rules at the             A
earliest. Accordingly, the Ministry of Law and Justice
notified the amendments to the Conduct of Election
Rules, 1961 in the Gazette of India vide Notification No.
S.O. 2470(E) dated 14.08.2013 to enable use of WPAT
with EVMs. [Para 24) [575-G-H; 576-A]                           B
     3. Though initially the ECI was little reluctant in
introducing "paper trail" by use of WPAT, taking note of
the advantage in the system, pursuant to the several
directions to the ECI, the ECI contacted several expert
bodies, technical advisors, etc. They also had various          C
meetings with National and State level political parties,
demonstrations were conducted at various places and
finally after a thorough examination and full discussion,
VVPAT was used successfully in all the 21 polling
stations of 51-Noksen (ST) Assembly Constituency of             D
Nagaland. The information furnished by the ECI, through
the affidavit dated 01.10.2013, clearly shows that WPAT
system is a successful one. WPAT is a system of printing
paper trail when the voter casts his vote, in addition to
the electronic record of the ballot, for the purpose of         E
verification of his choice of candidate and alsb for manual
counting of votes in case of dispute. [Para 28) [577-F-H;
578-H]
     4. From the materials placed by both the sides, the
Court is satisfied that the "paper trail" is an indispensable   F
requirement of free and fair elections. The confidence of
the voters in the Ev'Ms can be achieved only with the
introduction of the "paper trail". EVMs with VVPAT
system ensure the accuracy of the voting system. With
an intent to have-fullest transparency in the system and        G
to restore the confidence of the voters, it is necessary to
set up EVMs with WPAT system because vote is nothing
but an act of expression which has immense importance
in democratic system. [Para 29] [578-B-C]
    5. ECI is permitted to introduce the same in gradual        H
    568      SUPREME COURT REPORTS            [2013] 14 S.C.R.

A stages or geographical-wise in the ensuing general
  elections. The area, State or actual booth(s) are to be
  decided by the ECI and the ECI is free to implement the
  same in a phased manner. For implementation of such a
  system (WPAT) in a phased manner, the Government of
B India is directed to provide required financial assistance
  for procurement of units of VVPAT. [Paras 30 and 31]
    (578-D-F]
          CIVIL APPELLATE JURISDICTION : Civil Appeal No.
    9093 of 2013.
c       From the Judgment & Order dated 17.01.2012 of the High
    Court of Delhi at New Delhi in W.P.(C) No. 11879 of 2009.
                                WITH
    W.P.(C) No. 406 of 2012.
D       Dr. Subramanian Swamy (Petitioner-In-Person), Ashok
    Desai, Meenakshi Arora, Dr. R.R. Deshpande, Jaishanker,
    Agrawala, Sita Agrawala, S.K. Mendiratta,          Vasav
    Ananthraman, Mohit D. Ram (Intervenor-in-person), Debasis
    Misra for the appearing parties.
E         The Judgment of the Court was delivered by
          P. SATHASIVAM, CJI. 1. Leave granted.
    Civil Appeal @ SLP (C) No. 13735 of 2012
       2. This appeal is directed against the judgment and order
F dated 17 .01.2012 passed by the Division Bench of the High
  Court of Delhi at New Delhi in W.P.(C) No. 11879 of 2009
  whereby the High Court disposed of the petition by disallowing
  the prayer made by the appellant herein for issuance of a writ
  of mandamus directing the Election Commission of India (ECl)-
G Respondent herein to incorporate a system of "paper trail/
  paper receipt" in the Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) as a
  convincing proof that the EVM has rightly registered the vote
  cast by a voter in favour of a particular candidate.
      3. Being aggrieved of the above, the present appeal has
H been filed by way of special leave.
    DR. SUBRAMANIAN SWAMY v. ELECTION                       569
   COMMISSION OF INDIA [P. SATHASIVAM, CJI.]
Writ Petition (Civil) No. 406 of 2012                              A
     4. One Rajendra Satyanarayan Gilda has filed this Writ ·
Petition, under Article 32 of the Constitution of India, praying
for issuance of a writ of mandamus/direction(s) directing the
Union of India, the Chief Election Commissioner and the
Technical Experts Committee-Respondent Nos. 1-3 herein B
respectively to effect the necessary modifications in the EVMs
so as to allow the voters to verify their respective votes and to
attach the printers to the EVMs with a facility to print the running
record of the votes for the purpose of verification by the voters
in the process of voting. He also prayed for a direction to frame C
guidelines and to effect necessary amendments in the Conduct
of Election Rules, 1961.
    5. In view of the pendency of the appeal filed by Dr.
Subramanian Swamy, this Court issued notice in the writ petition
and tagged with the said appeal.                                   D
      6. Heard Dr. Subramanian Swamy, appellant-in-person in
the appeal, Dr. R.R. Deshpande, learned counsel for the writ
petitioner, Mr. Ashok Desai and Ms. Meenakshi Arora, learned
senior counsel for the ECI.
                                                                   E
Contentions:
     7. Dr. Subramanian Swamy, the appellant herein
contended before this Court that the present system of EVMs,
as utilized in the last few general elections in India, does not
meet all the requirements of the international standards and       F
though th~ ECI maintains that the EVMs cannot be ~ampered
with, but the fact is that EVMs, like all electronic equipments,
are open to hacking.
     8. The appellant has further highlighted that the instant
matter arises out of the refusal of the ECI to incorporate a       G
certain obvious safeguard in the EVMs called "paper backup",
"paper receipt" or "paper trail", presently in use and mandated
in some countries like USA, which would easily and cheaply
meet the requirement of proof that the EVM has rightly
registered the vote cast by a voter. The appellant has further     H
    570      SUPREME COURT REPORTS                 [2013] 14 S.C.R.


A highlighted that the "paper trail" system is to supplement the
  procedure of voting as in this procedure, after recording a vote
  in the EVM, a print out will come out which will appraise the
  voter that his vote has been rightly registered and the same will
  be deposited in a box which can only be used by the ECI in
B case of election dispute.
        9. It is the categorical stand of the appellant that the above
  said system will bring more accuracy in the present system and
  if a particular election is challenged on the ground that some
  particular identified voter's voter or the votes of a group of voters
C have been suppressed/have not been correctly assigned by the
  EVMs, the accepted current procedure is for a re-run of the
  same EVMs for a re-count, however, under the new procedure,
  a re-count will be of the receipts in the ballot box containing the
  printouts the EVMs had issued to the voter thereby ensuring
D more transparency in the process.
       10. The writ petitioner has also raised similar contentions
  as those of Dr. Swamy. According to the petitioner, in the
  present system of voting through EVMs, there is no such facility
  by which a voter can verify and confirm his own voting. At
E present, a voter presses a button only but cannot ascertain the
  actual voting. He is not sure whether his vote is recorded or
  not, if recorded, whether it is recorded in favour of the person
  to whom it was intended or not. Whether it is valid or invalid
  and whether it is counted or not. It is submitted by the petitioner
F that unless and until answers to these questions are personally
  seen by, the voter, it cannot be said that voting is rrade by him
  because "pressing a button of choice and getting flashed the
  red-light" is not actual voting in real sense unless the voter
  knows well that what has happened in consequence of pressing
G a button of his choice from the EVMs.
    Stand of the Election Commission of India:
       11. Mr. Ashok Desai, learned senior counsel for the ECI
  submitted that the apprehension that EVMs could be tampered
  with is baseless. It was also informed to this Court that the ECI
H has been exploring the possibility of incorporating a viable Voter
     DR. SUBRAMANIAN SWAMY v. ELECTION                         571
    COMMISSION OF INDIA [P. SATHASIVAM, CJI.]
Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (WPAT) system as a part of the           A
presently used EVMs to make the election system more
transparent. Further, it was brought to our notice that the ECI
conducted field trials for WPAT system earlier also but the
same had not been successful and were discontinued. The ECI
also filed a· counter affidavit stating that the EVMs provided by     B
the Commission are of such a high end technology that it cannot
be hacked.
     12. Referring to Section 61 A of the Representation of the
People Act, 1951, it is submitted that the Statute itself provides
for recording of votes by EVMs and the ECI has been given             C
the discretion to prescribe recording of votes by such EVMs
as it may deem fit. This discretion has to be exercised in a
manner to preserve the. sanctity of the election process and
ensure that the election is conducted in a free and fair manner.
The ECI has exercised due diligence to ensure that EVMs so            D
used are "tamper proof' and it is also in the process of exploring
to incorporate VVPAT system which is compatible with the
present EVMs used by it. It is asserted that there is no instance
of tampering with EVMs so far by anyone.
     13. It is further submitted that the EVMs used in India are      E
unique•and unlike the ones used in the elections in USA and
other countries, which are personal computer based. EVMs
deployed by the ECI have been lauded not only in India but also
abroad. EVM's Control Unit retains in the memory each vote
recorded elector-wise. The information stored in the memory           F
of the Control Unit can be retrieved by .using a device called
the "decoder" which, when attached to the Control Unit of EVM,
can print out the statement of voting data showing the order in
which each voter has voted and to whom he has voted.
     14. Insofar as the transparency of the election process as       G
well as the right of a voter to kflow whether his vote has actually
been recorded for the candidate for whom it was cast is
concerned, it is submitted that as soon as a vote is recorded
by a voter by pressing the "candidate's" button on the Ballot
Unit, a light glows against the name and symbol of the                H
    572      SUPREME COURT REPORTS                  {2013) 14 S.C.R.

A candidate, which the voter can see for himself/ herself. This is
  a visual (electronic) assurance to the voter that the candidate
  for whom he has cast his vote' has actually got that vote.
  Thereafter, tt\e light goes off to protect the secrecy of voting.
          15. It is further submitted that the feasibility of WPAT
B system was sought to be explored to by various political parties
  and they were explained the technical and administrative
  safeguards. The ECI also constituted a Technical Experts
  Committee to examine the viability of the WPAT system. On
  27.05.2011, the Technical Experts Committee, after discussion
C with political parties and civil society members and also after
  seeing the demonstration of the prototype VVPAT system
  developed by Mis. Bharat Electronics Ltd. (BEL) and Mis.
  Electronics Corporation of India Ltd. (ECIL), recommended that
  a field test of the prototype WPAT system should be carried
D out in a simulated election under different environmental
  conditions in Jaisalmer, Thiruvananthapuram, Delhi, Leh and
  Cherapunji. The ECI also held further meetings with the
  manufacturers of EVMs on various dates to fine tune the system
  and expedite the follow up action required. Several meetings
E were also held with the Expert Committee on WPAT system.
       16. In wider fulfillment of the objectives of the field trial, the
  ECI has requested the National and State parties to extend
  necessary cooperation by getting involved in the trial process
  actively and also witness the trial in order to have a first hand
F experience of the system. The ECI has also requested the
  individuals including the appellant - Qr. Subramanian Swamy
  and the groups, who have been engaged with the ECI on the
  issue of EVM-WPAT, to witness the trial.
      17. We have carefully perused the relevant materials and
G considered the rival contentions.
    Discussion
       18. When the matter was listed before this Court for
  hearing on 27.09.2012, Mr. Ashok Desai had brought to our
H notice that the ECI is contemplating foolproof method in EVMs
    DR. SUBRAMANIAN SWAMY v. ELECTION                         573
   COMMISSION OF INDIA [P. SATHASIVAM, CJI.]
for which they are taking various steps in consultation with the     A
Technical Experts Committee and the views of all recognized
political parties. Mr. Desai also promised to appraise this Court
about the deliberations and the ultimate decision to be taken
by them in this regard. Accordingly, this Court granted sufficient
time to the ECI to file Status Report regarding introduction of      B
WPAT system in EVMs to be used in the elections.
     19. Pursuant to the directions of this Court, the ECI filed a
Status Report on the developments of WPAT system. In the
said report, the ECI, citing various technicalities, prayed for
further time to make the system more robust for the field            C
conditions.
      20. On 15.12.2012, M/s BEL, Bangalore filed a report
showing the status of development of WPAT system which
contains changes that have been carried out in WPAT from
September to December, 2012 and also furnished                       D
chronological changes made in WPAT system after the field
trial of the WPAT system held in July and August, 2012.
     21. Pursuant to the directions of this Court, the Secretary,
ECI, filed an affidavit highlighting the following steps/            E
information:
    "(i) That vide its Affidavit dated 14.01.2013, the
    Commission had filed the status report regarding
    introduction of the WPAT system in the Electronic Voting
    Machines (EVMs).                                                 F
    (ii) That subsequently, i,n the Technical Expert Committee
    meeting held on 04.02.2013, the Committee approved the
    design of the WPAT and decided that software fine tuning
    will be done and completed by the end of February, 2013,
    and modified design specifications will be submitted to the      G
    Technical Expert Committee for approval.
    The Committee also recommended that the Commission
   _may for using the VVPAT and that the WPAT should be
    tried in a bye-election.
                                                                     H
    574       SUPREME COURT REPORTS                  [2013) 14 S.C.R.


A         (iii) That in the Technical Expert Committee meeting held
          on 19.02.2013, the Committee finalized the VVPAT
          design.
          The manufacturers, namely, M/s. Bharat Electronics
          Limited and Mis. Electronics Corporation of India Limited
B         have quoted Rs. 16,200/- (excluding duties, taxes and
          transport charges) per. WPAT system.
          The Commission has decided to purchase sufficient units
          of WPAT for trials in a Bye-election, at an approximate
          cost of Rs.72,90,000/- (Rupees seventy two lakh ninety
c         thousand) approximately.
          (iv) It is submitted that the Commission will require
          approximately 13 lakh WPAT units to be manufactures for
          13 lakh EVMs presently available and roughly about Rs.
          1690 crores (One Thousand Six Hundred Ninety
D
          Crores)(i.e. 13 lakh units x Rs.13,000 per unit) are required
          for the purpose of implementation of the WPAT system
          taking into account the possible reduction in the cost per
          unit when produced in bulk.

E         (v) It. is further submitted that in order to implement the new
          system the Conduct of Election Rules, 1961 will require
          certain amendments.
          In this connection, vide letter No. 3/1/2013Nol.ll/SDR/86
          dated 28.03.2013, the Commission has informed the
F         Legislative Department of the Ministry of Law and Justice
          inter alia the various F1mendments required to the relevant
          parts of Rules 49A to 49X, 66A, 55C, 56C, 57C and Form
          17C of the Conduct of Elections Rules, 1961, as well as
          introduction of Rules 49MA and 560 in the said Rules ...
G         (vi) That the Commission has called for a meeting of all
          the recognized National and State Parties on 10th May,
          2013 for the purpose of demonstration of WPAT unit to
          them and for discussion with them for eliciting their views
          regarding use of WPAT system in the elections. The
H         petitioner herein and others interested in the matter would
    DR. SUBRAMANIAN SWAMY v. ELECTION                     575
   COMMISSION OF INDIA [P. SATHASIVAM, CJI.]
    also be invited at the meeting."                              A
     22. It is seen from the records that after various
deliberations with the experts and persons concerned with the
technology, the Technical Experts Committej:! approved the final
design of WPAT units in its meeting held on 19.01.2013. In
order to mee~ the directions of this Court and for prop~r B
execution of WPAT system, as noticed above, the ECI in its
letter dated 28.03.2013, addressed to the Secretary to the
Government of India, Ministry of Law and Justice stated that
necessary ground work for amendment to the Conduct of
Election Rules, 1961 (in relevant parts in Rules 49A to 49X, C
66A, 55C, 56C, 57C and Form 17C) may be made so that the
amendment to the Rules can be notified immediately which will
enable the ECI to use the WPAT system in bye-elections in
consultation with the political parties. By placing all those
materials, the ECI requested the Ministry of Law and Justice o
for drafting and notifying amendment Rules expeditiously.
     23. From the materials placed by the ECI, it is noted that
the purchase order has been placed with M/s BEL and Mis
ECIL for supplying 150 and 300 WPAT units respectively at
Rs. 16,200/- per unit excluding excise .duty, sales tax and       E
transportation etc. costing Rs. 72,90,000/- (approx.). The ECI
has also highlighted that if the WPAT systems are ultimately
to be used with all the 13 lakh EVMs available, the total cost
in the purchase of WPAT units may come to about Rs. 1,690
crores, taking into account the possible reduction in the cost    F
per unit due to. bulk production the cost may come to Rs.
13,000/- per unit approximately.
     24. The affidavit dated 21.08.2013, filed on behalf of the
ECI, shows that the Ministry of Law and Justice, on 24.07.2013,
referred the draft notification to amend the Conduct of Election G
Rules, 1961 to provide for use of WPAT system of elections
to the ECI for its views and comments. The ECI suggested
certain minor modifications in the draft notification and sent the
same back to the Ministry of Law and Justice on 02.08.2013
with a request to notify the amendment Rules at the earliest. H
    576     SUPREME COURT REPORTS              [2013] 14 S.C.R.


A Accordingly, the Ministry of Law and Justice notified the
  amendments to the Conduct of Election Rules, 1961 in the
  Gazette of India vide notification No. S.O. 2470(E) dated
  14.08.2013 to enable use of WPAT with EVMs.
       25. The aforesaid affidavit of the ECI also shows that the
8
  ECI had also convened a meeting of all the recognized National
  and State political parties on 10.05.2013 and demonstrated
  before their representatives the working of WPAT system.
  Separately, on the same day, the ECI also held a meeting with
  individuals including the appellant herein who had been
C engaged with the ECI over the past several years regarding the
  functioning of EVMs. WPAT system was demonstrated before
  them as well. Representatives of political parties and other
  individuals expressed their satisfaction over the VVPAT
  system. Thereafter, the ECI had decided to use the WPAT
D system in the bye-election from 51-Noksen (ST) Assembly
  Constituency in the State of Nagaland. Instructions were issued
  to hold special meetings with the contesting candidates in that
  constituency to brief them about the use of WPAT system. The
  ECI also organized special training sessions for poll officers
E for the use of WPAT and steps were taken to educate the
  electors for the same.
       26. After various hearings, when the matter was heard on
  4.10.2013, an affidavit dated 01.10.2013 filed on behalf of the
  ECI was placed before this Court. The said affidavit was filed
F to place on record the performance/result of the introduction of
  the WPAT system in the bye-election from 51-Noksen (ST)
  Assembly Constituency of Nagaland for which the poll was
  conducted on 04.09.2013 indicating the future course of action
  to be decided by the ECI on the basis of said performance.
G By this affidavit, it was brought to our notice that sinc:e WPAT
  system was being used for the first time, the ECI has decided
  that intensive training shall be given to the polling officers.
  Members of the Technical Experts Committee of the ECI also
  went to supervise training and the actual use of WPAT in the
H
     DR. SUBRAMANIAN SWAMY v. ELECTION                           577
    COMMISSION OF INDIA [P. SATHASIVAM, CJI.]
bye-election. It is further stated that the ECI also wrote letters A
to all the recognized political parties and other persons,
including the appellant herein, engaged with the ECI on this
subject inviting them to witness the use of WPAT. It is also
brought to our notice that WPAT was successfully used in all
the 21 polling stations of 51-Noksen (ST) Assembly B
Constituency of Nagaland. It was also stated that as per the
Rules, the paper slips of WPAT shall not be counted normally
except in case the Returning Officer decides to count them on
an application submitted by any of the candidates. However,
since WPAT system was being used for the first time in any C
election, the ECI decided on its own to count paper slips of
WPAT in respect of all polling stations. According to the ECI,
no discrepancy was found between the electronic and paper
count.
     27. In the said affidavit, it is finally stated that the ECI has    D
decided to increase the use of VVPAT units in a phased
manner and for this purpose the ECI has already written to the
Government of India, Ministry of Law and Justice to issue
administrative and financial sanction for procurement of 20,000
units of WPAT (10,000 each from M/s BEL and M/s ECIL)                    E
costing about Rs. 38.01 crore.
      28. Though initially the ECI was little reluctant in introducing
"paper trail" by use of WPAT, taking note of the advantage in
the system as demonstrated by Dr. Subramanian Swamy, we
issued several directions to the ECI . Pursuant to the same, the         F
ECI. contacted several expert bodies, techni~al advisers, etc.
They also had various meetings with National and State level
political parties, demonstrations were conducted at various
places and finally after a thorough examination and full
discussion, WPAT was used successfully in all the 21 polling             G
stations of 51-Noksen (ST) Assembly Constituency of
Nagaland. The information furnished by the ECI, through the
affidavit dated 01.10.2013, clearly shows ·that WPAT system
is a successful one. We have already highlighted that WPAT
is a system of printing paper trail when the voter casts his vote.       H
    578       SUPREME COURT REPORTS                [2013) 14 S.C.R.


A in addition to the electronic record of the ballot, for the purpose
  of verification of his choice of candidate and also for manual
  counting of votes in case of dispute.
         29. From the materials placed by both the sides, we are
  satisfied that the "paper trail" is an indispensable requirement
B of free and fair elections. The confidence of the voters in the
  EVMs can be achieved only with the introduction of the "paper
  trail". EVMs with WPAT system ensure the accuracy of the
  voting system. With an intent to have fullest transparency in the
  system and to restore the confidence of the voters, it is
C necessary to set up EVMs with WPAT system because vote
  is nothing but an act of expression which has immense
  importance in democratic system.
       30. In the light of the above discussion and taking notice
  of the pragmatic and reasonable approach of the ECI and
D considering the fact that in general elections all over India, the
  ECI has to handle one million (ten lakhs) polling booths, we
  permit the ECI to introduce the same in gradual stages or
  geographical-wise in the ensuing general elections. The area,
  State or actual booth(s) are to be decided by the ECI and the
E ECI is free to implement the same in a phased manner. We
  appreciate the efforts and good gesture made by the ECI in
  introducing the same.
       31. For implementation of such a system (WPAT) in a
  phased manner, the Government of India is directed to provide
F required financial assistance for procurement of units of WPAT.
        32. Before parting with the case, we record our
    appreciation for the efforts made by Dr. Subramanian Swamy
    as well as the ECI, in particular Mr. Ashok Desai and Ms.
    Meenakshi Arora, learned senior counsel for the ECI.
G
          33. With the above directions, the appeal and the writ
    petition are disposed of. No separate order is required in the
    applications for intervention. Both sides are permitted to
    approach this Court for further direction(s), if need arises.
H   Kalpana K. Tripathy                    Appeal & Petition disposed of.