The Supreme Court rejected all petitions on Friday seeking full verification of votes cast using Electronic Voting Machines (EVM) with Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) slips. The verdict was delivered by a two-judge panel consisting of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta. "We dismissed all requests regarding the reintroduction of ballot papers," Justice Khanna stated during the hearing. The writ petitions were filed by the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR), Abhay Bhakchand Chhajed, and Arun Kumar Aggarwal.

During the hearing, the panel issued two directions to the Election Commission of India (ECI). First, after the completion of the symbol loading process, the Symbol Loading Unit (SLU) must be sealed and stored for a minimum of 45 days. Second, in the event of a request by candidates within seven days of the results being announced, a team of engineers should check the burnt memory in the microcontroller EVM.

the bench sought clarification from the ECI on whether the microcontroller is in the controlling unit or in the VVPAT, whether it is one-time programmable, how many Symbol Loading Units are available, the data storage period, and whether the Control Unit or VVPAT is sealed separately. After an ECI official responded, the bench stated, "We cannot control the elections or another constitutional authority." The ECI cleared up doubts, and the court concluded, "We cannot issue a mandate based on suspicion."

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