SC to examine the law depriving undertrials the right to vote
- SC recently decided to examine a petition challenging a provision in the election law.
- Imposes a blanket ban on undertrials, persons confined in civil prisons and convicts serving their sentence in jails from casting their votes.
About
- A student filed a petition that while convicts out on bail could vote, undertrials, whose innocence or guilt has not been conclusively determined, and those confined in civil persons were deprived of their right to vote.
- Section 62(5) of the Representation of the People Act, 1951
- “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 the police”.
- The right to vote is a constitutional right under Article 326.
Prelims Takeaway
- Constitutional and statutory rights
- Types of Rights