NEW DELHI: Why should people facing trial in petty cases to heinous crimes, like murder or rape, be denied right to vote given the golden legal principle that presumes a person to be "innocent till found guilty by a court of law".
A PIL asked this question in Supreme Court on Friday and said because of the bar under Section 62(5) of Representation of People (RP) Act an estimated five lakh undertrial prisoners are deprived of their voting rights .
A bench of CJI B R Gavai and Justice K Vinod Chandran sought responses from Centre and Election Commission on a PIL after hearing arguments from advocate Prashant Bhushan . However, according to ' Prison Statistics India 2023' - published by National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), 73.5% of all prisoners are undertrials, 3.9 lakh out of 5.3 lakh prisoners.
Section 62(5) of RP Act provides that "No person shall vote at any election if he is confined in a prison, whether under a sentence of imprisonment or transportation or otherwise, or is in the lawful custody of police". However, it did not bar a person under preventive detention to vote.
The petitioner has sought a direction to the Election Commission to frame guidelines for preserving the voting rights of persons lodged in prison during the pendency of trial and set up polling booths inside prisons to enable them to cast their votes, or facilitate them to use postal ballots, if they are lodged in a prison which is outside their constituencies or state.
The petitioner said convicted prisoners or those arrested for charges of corruption may not be given voting rights. It said undertrials have voting rights in most countries, including Pakistan.
"A blanket ban violates the universally-recognised principle of presumption of innocence. In India, over 75% prisoners are pre-trial or undertrial detainees, many of whom remain incarcerated for decades. In 80-90% cases, such individuals are ultimately acquitted, yet they are denied the fundamental democratic right to vote for decades," the petition said.
Interestingly, a three-judge bench of then CJI D Y Chandrachud and Justices P S Narasimha and J B Pardiwala in May 2023 dismissed a similar plea for extending voting rights to undertrial prisoners by challenging the constitutional validity of Section 62(5) of RP Act.
"Constitutional validity of the provision under Section 62(5) of RP Act, 1951, has been upheld by a two-judge bench of this court and later by a three-judge bench of this court. In view of these decisions, we are not inclined to entertain the petition," the bench had said.
Article 326 of the Constitution, which provides for election based on adult suffrage, gives voting right to every Indian who is above 18 years of age and is "not otherwise disqualified under this Constitution or any law made by appropriate legislature on grounds of non-residence, unsoundness of mind, crime or corrupt or illegal practice."
A PIL asked this question in Supreme Court on Friday and said because of the bar under Section 62(5) of Representation of People (RP) Act an estimated five lakh undertrial prisoners are deprived of their voting rights .
A bench of CJI B R Gavai and Justice K Vinod Chandran sought responses from Centre and Election Commission on a PIL after hearing arguments from advocate Prashant Bhushan . However, according to ' Prison Statistics India 2023' - published by National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), 73.5% of all prisoners are undertrials, 3.9 lakh out of 5.3 lakh prisoners.
Section 62(5) of RP Act provides that "No person shall vote at any election if he is confined in a prison, whether under a sentence of imprisonment or transportation or otherwise, or is in the lawful custody of police". However, it did not bar a person under preventive detention to vote.
The petitioner has sought a direction to the Election Commission to frame guidelines for preserving the voting rights of persons lodged in prison during the pendency of trial and set up polling booths inside prisons to enable them to cast their votes, or facilitate them to use postal ballots, if they are lodged in a prison which is outside their constituencies or state.
The petitioner said convicted prisoners or those arrested for charges of corruption may not be given voting rights. It said undertrials have voting rights in most countries, including Pakistan.
"A blanket ban violates the universally-recognised principle of presumption of innocence. In India, over 75% prisoners are pre-trial or undertrial detainees, many of whom remain incarcerated for decades. In 80-90% cases, such individuals are ultimately acquitted, yet they are denied the fundamental democratic right to vote for decades," the petition said.
Interestingly, a three-judge bench of then CJI D Y Chandrachud and Justices P S Narasimha and J B Pardiwala in May 2023 dismissed a similar plea for extending voting rights to undertrial prisoners by challenging the constitutional validity of Section 62(5) of RP Act.
"Constitutional validity of the provision under Section 62(5) of RP Act, 1951, has been upheld by a two-judge bench of this court and later by a three-judge bench of this court. In view of these decisions, we are not inclined to entertain the petition," the bench had said.
Article 326 of the Constitution, which provides for election based on adult suffrage, gives voting right to every Indian who is above 18 years of age and is "not otherwise disqualified under this Constitution or any law made by appropriate legislature on grounds of non-residence, unsoundness of mind, crime or corrupt or illegal practice."
You may also like
'Exceptional health': Donald Trump's cardiac age reported 14 years younger than his actual age; undergoes preventive screenings, vaccinations
Akhilesh Yadav's Facebook account suspended: Samajwadi Party targets BJP for "suppressing opposition voice"
J-K: Army pays tribute to 2 soldiers killed in Kokernag anti-terror operation
UPSC: NDA, CDS-I final results released; CAPF Assistant Commandant results also announced, here's how to check..
'Masterpiece' TV drama on BBC has fans binge watching - 'insanely addictive'
