Mumbai: Congress leader Naseem Khan on Thursday alleged that election officials were not fully complying with the court’s order, claiming they were only willing to demonstrate that the EVMs were in a working condition and did not verify the votes cast in the machines along with the VVPAT slips.Khan said he had paid Rs 9.4 lakh as stipulated charges for the examination. The court had permitted “checking and verification” of burnt memory, micro-controllers, and any tampering or modification in the control unit, ballot unit and VVPAT.Khan insisted that officials consult their seniors, as the court had directed verification of the EVMs along with all connected details with the help of technical experts. After an entire day spent retrieving the selected machine from the godown and engaging in legal discussions, Khan urged officials to seek clarity on the court’s order and fix another date for further proceedings.In the 2024 assembly elections, Khan had lost to Shiv Sena’s Dilip Lande in the Chandivli constituency by a margin of 20,625 votes. He later challenged Lande’s victory in the Bombay high court, seeking his disqualification and raising multiple allegations. While the court rejected his petition, it allowed his plea for examination of the EVMs. Following the high court’s order, the Election Commission scheduled the inspection of select EVMs from the Chandivli assembly constituency, along with VVPAT slips, on April 16 and 17.
