Seize EVMs used in Vikasnagar: HC

Electronic Voting Machines or EVMs used for the Vikasnagar constituency in the Uttarakhand assembly elections earlier this year will be taken in court's custody, the state's High Court has ruled, as it admitted a petition by a Congressman who lost the election from that seat.

Senior Uttarakhand Congress leader, Nav Prabhat, has challenged the election of the BJP's Munna Singh Chauhan from Vikasnagar, near capital Dehradun, alleging that the EVMs were rigged.

Opposition parties have alleged that the BJP's landslide win in Uttarakhand and neighbouring key state Uttar Pradesh last month was aided by tampered EVMs. The Election Commission has emphatically said EVMs cannot be rigged.

The Uttarakhand High Court has asked the Election Commission, the state poll panel and Chauhan to send their replies within six weeks to notices that it served yesterday. It has also asked the election commissions not to use the Vikasnagar EVMs for any elections till it issues further orders. The EVMs have not been used since the Uttarkahand elections since vote machines deployed for an election are not used again for at least two months after results are announced.