Blanket ban keeps out over 4 lakh undertrials from exercising their franchise

As voting for the 18th Lok Sabha is underway, over four lakh undertrials held in di…erent prisons across the country have been barred from exercising their franchise due to a sweeping ban under the law.

On the other hand, ‘Waris Punjab De’ chief Amritpal Singh and Abdul Rashid Sheikh aka Engineer Rashid, the leader of the Awami Ittehad Party, are set to run for election while conned in Dibrugarh Jail and Tihar Jail respectively. Even convicts serving sentences under two years are allowed to contest elections from prison.

Legal experts are of the view that if certain categories of prisoners can contest elections, undertrials languishing in jails should be given the right to cast their vote.

As per the National Crime Records Bureau, in

If certain categories of prisoners can contest elections, undertrials should be given the right to cast their vote: experts

2022 there were 4,34,302 undertrials across jails in India, comprising 76% of the total jail population of 5,73,220.

“While undertrials are deprived of many rights, the right of voting is being denied largely because of the Election Commission of India’s administrative convenience,” constitutional law expert and senior advocate Sanjay Hegde told The Hindu.

Mr. Hedge said if the EC can allow postal ballots for certain categories of voters, there is no reason why the rule can’t be amended. “It can be addressed through the option of postal ballot.”

Virag Gupta, another xpert, questioned the logic behind barring undertrials from voting. “It lacks reasonable classication based on the nature of the crime or duration of the sentence, which is anathema to the right to equality envisaged under Article 14 of the Constitution,” he said, citing the UN’s Universal Declaration of Human Rights that advocates universal voting right irrespective of the status of incarceration.

Security threat

An o£cial at Tihar Jail, where over 90% of the inmates are undertrials, sought to draw a distinction between an elector and a poll candidate. “Spaces designated for nomination are secured areas. But our jails have a mixed population, including high-risk prisoners like terrorists, gangsters, and those accused of heinous crimes,” the o£cial said.

While allowing undertrials to go out and vote is a serious safety concern, even booths in prison are a security threat and will necessitate deployment of both police and paramilitary forces, he said.