Guwahati: The Gauhati High Court is examining a PIL filed against the credibility and legal acceptability of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) used in the 2026 Assam Assembly election.
The petition questions the semiconductor technology in the machines, the availability of microchip source code and the reported involvement of Japanese semiconductor company Renesas Electronics in Assam’s semiconductor initiatives.
Congress leaders Guptamani Sharma and Ripun Bora filed the petition along with Assam Jatiya Parishad (AJP) leader Ziaur Rahman.
They have alleged that irregularities involving EVMs played a part in the BJP securing a majority on its own in the 2026 Assembly election. The allegations will now be examined as part of the court proceedings.
Arguments on whether the PIL can be maintained were heard by the Chief Justice’s court on September 18.
The petitioners said the court considered the matter serious and sensitive and referred to EVM-related cases before the Supreme Court and other High Courts. Further arguments on the maintainability of the petition are scheduled for November 4.
The petitioners have acknowledged that previous cases challenging EVM reliability before the Supreme Court and High Courts have not established that the machines are inherently unreliable.
Their contention is that the present petition raises a different question by focusing specifically on the microchips and semiconductors inside EVMs and the transparency of their programming.
Rahman has alleged that the semiconductor components used in the machines were made by a company based in Japan. He has questioned how much information about the programming of these components can be accessed and examined by the public.
Citing electronic voting systems used in other countries, Rahman claimed that some such systems have involved greater disclosure of programming details and source code before elections. He alleged that the Election Commission of India has not publicly disclosed the source code of the EVM technology in question.
An RTI response was also cited by him, which he said classified the source code as information related to national security.
The petition also refers to Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma’s visit to Japan in January 2025. Rahman said Sarma met representatives of the Japanese company in Tokyo on January 22, 2025.
Questions have also been raised about the Assam government’s efforts to bring semiconductor investment and cooperation from Japanese companies to the state.
Rahman has further questioned the circumstances of Sarma’s Japan visit, which took place after polling in Assam and before the votes were counted.
Polling figures from the 2026 Assembly election form another part of Rahman’s claims. He said an analysis of constituency-wise data found that 35 constituencies recorded exactly 17 per cent polling between 1 pm and 3 pm on April 4, while another 37 constituencies reported the same percentage.
Rahman questioned whether the same polling figure could occur naturally across such a large number of constituencies.
Representing the petitioners, senior advocate Kamal Nayan Choudhury made submissions before the court. The Election Commission’s counsel also responded during the hearing.
The Assam government is expected to state its position when the matter comes up again.
The court is expected to hear the other parties on the issue before deciding whether the PIL can proceed.
The petition does not, at this stage, seek to have the 2026 Assam Assembly election declared illegal. Instead, the petitioners have placed the legality and credibility of the EVMs used during the election at the centre of their case.