Uttarakhand HC orders release of EVMs not part of 2017 tampering petitions

Nainital: The Election Commission on Tuesday filed an application before the Uttarakhand High Court seeking the release of EVMs sealed after an order of the court in May 2017.

The Election Commission requested the court that the Electronic Voting Machines which were not part of the petitions seeking their sealing be released for use in future.

Agreeing to the demand, a single bench of Justice Lokpal Singh ordered that the EVMs apart from the ones in question be released.

Earlier, seven election petitions were filed in the high court seeking sealing and investigation of EVMs used in seven constituencies after the 2017 state assembly elections, alleging tampering with the machines.

The court had directed the judicial magistrates of the constituencies to put their additional seal on the said EVMs.

However, the court said on Tuesday that the EVMs from the seven constituencies will remain sealed until further orders.

These were: Vikasnagar, Rajpur Road, Bhel Ranipur, Raipur, Mussoorie, Pratapnagar and Haridwar Rural.