EVMs to Undergo Diagnostic Check in Mumbai After High Court Nod

Following an order by the Bombay High Court earlier this year, the State Election Commission (SEC) will conduct a two-day “diagnostic check only” inspection of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) on April 16 and 17.

A petition was filed by Congress leader Mohammad Arif Lalan Khan, who had lost the 2024 Maharashtra Assembly election from Chandivali.

Currently, the MLA from the Chandivali constituency is Shiv Sena leader Dilip Lande. Chandivali was once considered a stronghold of Khan. In 2019, Khan lost narrowly by 409 votes, while in 2024, Lande defeated him by a margin of 20,625 votes.

After the results were declared, Naseem Khan filed a petition in the Bombay High Court seeking a technical examination of the EVM-VVPAT machines.

In February, Justice Somasekhar Sundaresan directed that the machines be inspected. Two months after this order, the Commission decided to proceed with the examination.

Petitioner Naseem Khan stated that, in India’s history, EVM-VVPAT machines have not previously been inspected after elections in the presence of candidates and officials.

He said that if contesting candidates have any doubts regarding EVM-VVPAT machines, the Election Commission should address them, something that has not been done so far. He described the High Court’s order as a historic decision.

In his petition, Khan had requested that five per cent of the EVMs used in the Chandivali constituency, around 20 sets out of approximately 400 machines, be examined. For this, he deposited the prescribed fee of Rs 9.44 lakh with the Election Commission.

The testing will be conducted in Mumbai on April 16 and 17 by EVM manufacturer Bharat Electronics Limited. A letter regarding this has been sent to Khan by the Deputy Election Officer of the Mumbai Suburban district.

Reacting to this, Khan called the development “historic”, noting that such post-election inspection of EVMs in the presence of candidates has not taken place before. “This is a necessary judicial intervention,” he said.

He further said, “My primary demand was for EVM verification, and the court has accepted it. Now we will wait to see what comes out of it.”

In Maharashtra, such verification has already been conducted for 17 candidates between February and August 2025 in connection with the 2024 Lok Sabha and Assembly elections.