New Delhi: The Supreme Court this morning dismissed a PIL seeking 100 percent matching of Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) slips with Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) during counting.

A Vacation Bench, headed by Justice Arun Mishra, refused to entertain the plea filed by a Chennai-based organisation ‘Tech for All,’ saying that a larger Bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi had already passed an order. “The CJI had dealt with this matter. Why are you taking chance before a Two-Judge Vacation Bench,” the Apex Court asked. “We cannot override the CJI’s order… This is nonsense. The petition is dismissed,” Justice Mishra said.

The Apex Court had on                     May 7 dismissed a review plea filed by 21 Opposition leaders led by Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu seeking that random matching of VVPAT slips with EVMs be increased to 50 percent.

The Top Court had on Apr.8 directed the Election Commission to increase random matching of VVPAT slips with EVMs from one to five polling booths per Assembly segment in Lok Sabha polls, saying it would provide greater clarity.