NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court on Thursday refused to entertain a review plea filed against its earlier order dismissing a public interest litigation (PIL) that sought to replace electronic voting machines (EVMs) with ballot papers in general elections.
The court reiterated that the issue had been conclusively settled by multiple judicial pronouncements, including by the Supreme Court. A division bench of Chief Justice DK Upadhyaya and Justice Tushar Rao Gedela dismissed the review petition filed by petitioner Upendra Nath Dalai, who appeared in person.
During the pre-lunch hearing, the bench questioned Dalai for moving the review plea despite a detailed earlier order, remarking that he was “wasting judicial time.” At the court’s request, Senior Advocate Rajshekhar Rao was asked to interact with Dalai to explain how the matter could appropriately proceed. However, when the hearing resumed after lunch, Rao informed the bench that Dalai was “eagerly keen to pursue the review petition.” Dalai then told the court that he intended to press the review petition so that it could be formally dismissed, allowing him to approach the Supreme Court with a special leave petition.
“Review dismissed,” the bench ordered shortly thereafter. Dalai’s review plea challenged the bench’s order dated September 24, which had rejected his PIL seeking a direction to the Union government and the Election Commission of India (ECI) to conduct elections using ballot papers instead of EVMs. While dismissing the original PIL, the court had held that all concerns raised regarding EVMs had already been examined by several courts, including the Supreme Court.