Supreme Court leaves VVPAT time-stamping issue to Election Commission

PTI, May 27, 2026, New Delhi : The Supreme Court on Wednesday left it to the Election Commission to take a decision on a plea seeking a direction to the poll panel to modify VVPAT guidelines so that each slip displays the precise time at which a vote was cast.

A Bench comprising Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi said the PIL for recording the precise time of voting on Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) slips for better electoral transparency and verifiability was a technical matter and falls within the ambit of the poll panel.

“It seems that the issue raised by the petitioner concerns electoral integrity. However, the prayer sought by the petitioner, namely, whether such a measure is feasible, is a technical issue falling within the domain of the EC,” the Bench said, disposing of the plea.

The Bench directed the registry to forward the plea to the EC, which, in turn, could consider it.

According to the PIL, time-stamping on VVPAT slips would improve transparency, verifiability and auditability of the electoral process.

Relevant photo suggestion: A representative image of an Electronic Voting Machine (EVM) with VVPAT, the Supreme Court of India, or polling officials during elections would be appropriate for publication.