HC inquires about EVM ordinance status

The High Court has asked the government to inform the court if the electronic voting machine (EVM) related ordinance has been passed in the parliament.

A High Court bench comprising Justice M Enayetur Rahim and Justice Md Mustafizur Rahman ordered state lawyer Deputy Attorney General Amit Talukdar to reply on January 26.

On January 9, Advocate Eunus Ali Akond filed a writ with the High Court seeking directives of the court to not use EVMs in the upcoming Dhaka City polls scheduled for February 1. The Cabinet Division, President's Office, law and Election Commission Secretariat secretaries have been made defendants in the writ.

Eunus said the use of EVMs is not obligatory as per Section 26 (A) of the Representation of the People Order (RPO) as it was not passed in parliament. It is contradictory to the Section 93 of the constitution, which is why the writ was filed.