Arvind Kejriwal asked where one can procure EVMs privately. (File)
After the Chief Electoral Officer revealed that the electronic voting machines (EVM) used in Wednesday's Delhi University Student Union election were not issued by the poll panel, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal wrote in a tweet today that possessing EVM machines without the Election Commission's permission was a criminal offence.
"From where can you procure EVMs privately? Doesn't ECI claim that no one can manufacture or buy or sell EVMs privately? Isn't anyone found in possession of EVMs without EC's permission guilty of criminal offence (sic)?" Mr Kejriwal tweeted.
The RSS-backed Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) won three of four seats in the election, while the Congress-affiliated NSUI won a seat. The Aam Aadmi Party-affiliated CYSS, which fought in alliance with AISA, came third.
A statement issued by the office of the Chief Electoral Officer in Delhi said that his office had not issued any machine for DUSU elections to the Delhi University.
"With reference to captions being shown in some news channels regarding use of EVMs in the DUSU elections, I am directed to inform that the EVMs in question are not of Election Commission as no such EVMs have been allotted/issued to DU by this office," the statement read.
"It was also confirmed from the state election commission that no such machines have been given by them too."
"It seems that the DU has procured these machines privately. A detailed report in this regard will be sent subsequently as all the officials of DU are not available and busy in their election process at present," it added.
With inputs from agencies