SC asks Election Commission to file reply on petition concerning EVM

New Delhi [India], Feb 4 (ANI): The Supreme Court on Monday asked the Election Commission of India (ECI) to file its reply in four weeks and has fixed a date after six weeks for the final disposal of a petition filed by a journalist, challenging the involvement of private players in checking EVMs before the machines are used for polls.
The petition filed by a scribe seeks a direction from the Apex Court for the setting up of a high-powered committee headed by a retired Supreme Court Judge to investigate whether private persons should be permitted to deal with EVMs against the general procedure in the ECI.
The petitioner also demanded a formal inquiry into the background of the private persons which were permitted to handle the verification of the EVMs during Uttarakhand Assembly elections last year.
A division bench of the Apex Court, headed by Justice Arjan Kumar Sikri and also comprising Justice S Abdul Nazeer sought the reply from the ECI within four weeks and deferred the matter for further hearing after six weeks. (ANI)