The Election Commission of India (ECI) informed the Delhi High Court on Wednesday that preserving data from each electronic voting machine (EVM) will cost Rs 40,000. This was revealed during a hearing on a plea filed by AAP MLA Somnath Bharti, who has challenged BJP leader Bansuri Swaraj’s election to the Lok Sabha earlier this year.

Bharti, who had contested the Lok Sabha polls against Swaraj from New Delhi constituency, alleged that she engaged in “corrupt practices.” He had requested the preservation of EVM data to support his claim.

However, the MLA from Malviya Nagar noted that with 1,490 EVMs involved, the preservation cost would total approximately Rs 6 crore. He informed the court that he doesn’t “have that kind of money”.

Faced with the high cost, Bharti suggested storing the data on a hard disc, to be retrieved as needed during the proceedings.

Justice Manmeet Pritam Singh Arora, while hearing the petition, said that it would issue orders solely related to preserving the EVMs used in the election, adding it shall pass orders accordingly.

Bharti has alleged that there was a mismatch in EVM and VVPAT votes during the elections. While Swaraj had polled 4.53 lakh votes, Bharti got around 3.74 lakh votes.

He is seeking that the election in the New Delhi constituency be declared void due to these alleged “corrupt practices” and that Swaraj be barred from contesting any elections for six years.

In a post on X, Bharti said, “I was present during the counting and matching exercise of VVPAT and EVM of booth no 41 and in writing had informed @ECISVEEP of the mismatch in spite of three times counting of VVPAT slips. Since I could not be present in similar exercises of other booths, I sought direction from Honble Court for dumping the EVM data on a harddrive for referring the same as and when required during adjudication of the election petition.”

Bharti then questioned the fairness of an election and said, “Has election gone elitist?? 6 crores to secure the EVM data for the case adjudication?? This elitist impediment in seeking freeness and fairness of an election must go else democracy will remain hijacked to the rich and the powerful.”

On June 1, the ECI had released an administrative standard operating procedure for the checking and verification of EVM memory post-results. This notification stated that the cost for checking and verification by manufacturers BEL and ECIL is Rs 40,000 plus 18% GST per EVM set, which includes ballot units, control units, and Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trails (VVPAT). The cost is to be covered by the applicant candidate.