ECIL informs EC Shuja was never on its rolls

The Electronics Corporation of India Limited on Tuesday informed the Election Commission that Syed Shuja, who re-kindled the debate on credibility of Electronic Voting Machines, was never an employee of the state-owned company.

Shuja claimed on Monday that he worked for the ECIL between 2009 and 2014.

“The records of this company have been verified and it is found that Mr Syed Shuja has neither been on the rolls of the ECIL as a regular employee, nor was he in any way associated in the design and development of the EVMs in ECIL produced between 2009 and 2014,” ECIL Chairman cum Managing Director Rear Admiral (retd) Saniay Chaubey wrote to Deputy Election Commissioner Sudeep Jain.

The ECIL and Bharat Electronics manufacture the EVMs and the Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) devices used by the EC to conduct polls.

Shuja, who claimed to be a cyber expert based in the United States, addressed mediapersons in London through Skype on Monday. He alleged that the EVMs had been hacked to manipulate the outcome of the 2014 Lok Sabha elections.