GUWAHATI: Former Assam DGP Hare Krishna Deka complained of a mismatch on Tuesday after casting his vote at the polling booth in Lachitnagar Lower Primary School here when the VVPAT slip showed a name different from the candidate that he had voted for. However, he was told that if he lodged a complaint and it turned out to be false, he could face six months’ jail.“The presiding officer told me my vote could not be cancelled. I would have to pay Rs 2 for challenging the discrepancy, after which an inquiry would be initiated on the basis of my complaint. If deemed false, I would face six months’ imprisonment or have to pay a fine of Rs 10,000,” Deka told TOI, adding that this deterred him from filing a complaint.Deka said the stiff fine and jail term ensured that there was no remedial measure left for a voter if something went wrong with the VVPAT machine. “Why should a voter challenge (the VVPAT machine) when the criminal liability is put on her or him?” said Deka, a Sahitya Akademi award winning poet-critic.Just as Deka was dealing with the problem, miles away in Kerala , Ebin Babu (21) was arrested after his complaint turned out to be ‘false’. Babu had complained that while he cast his vote for a particular candidate, the VVPAT machine showed it was registered for someone else. But a test voting held in the presence of the presiding officer and polling agents showed the complaint was ‘false’. Babu was arrested under IPC section 177 (furnishing false information) but released later on bail.A senior official at Assam CEO’s office said the former DGP should have followed protocol, as laid down by the EC. “If there is a discrepancy, there are provisions to address the problem. Deka did not bring up his grievance with higher officials in the election department. He should have brought it up with us,” the official said.EC’s manual on the use of EVMs and VVPAT, issued in February 2019, says a complaint of wrong printing by VVPAT has to be reported to the presiding officer, who “will take a declaration explaining that if found false he (the complainant) can be penalized”. The presiding officer will then record the complaint and allow the complainant to cast a test vote in the presence of the presiding officer and polling agents. If the complaint is found to be valid, the presiding officer will stop polling and report to the returning officer.The manual adds, emphatically, that “since the introduction of VVPATs, more than 18 crore voters have cast their votes ... & ONLY 1 (one) complaint received ... which was also FOUND TO BE FALSE.”Deka’s contention evoked a mixed response in the public sphere. “Someone cannot wish away a complaint raised by someone like Deka, an honest and responsible officer,” academic Hiren Gohain , who had joined forces with Deka in the fight against Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, said.Education minister Siddhartha Bhattacharya, however, dismissed the concern. “This (Deka’s charge) is just not possible as far as VVPAT is concerned,” he said.