UPSC Daily Editorial Analysis | Right to Vote | 29 June 2022
Samajho's Android app | Samajho's IOS app | Youtube Channel | Telegram Channel | Instagram Channel
What the article is about?
- Talks about the right to vote in case of person in confinement.
Syllabus: GS-II Indian Polity, Fundamental Rights, Election and Voting
Right to vote:
- The right to vote for two MLAs confined in prison, was rejected under the Section 62(5) of the Representation of the People Act, 1951.
- The Supreme Court has observed that the intent of this provision is to maintain the integrity of elections by excluding ‘persons with criminal background’ from participating in them.
- Ideally, this objective can be achieved through a provision which disenfranchises persons who have been convicted of certain kinds of grave offences.
- However, Section 62(5) does not use conviction as the yardstick for disenfranchisement; it uses confinement.
- As a result, undertrial prisoners (who constitute over 75% of India’s nearly 5 lakh prisoners) cannot vote.
- Neither can persons detained in civil prison for failing to repay a debt.
- But remarkably, a person who has been convicted for a criminal offence and has managed to secure bail can vote.
- If the objective is to keep criminals away from elections, this is an anomaly.
- Indeed, it appears that as a result of a poor choice of words, an otherwise well-intentioned law has snatched away the right to vote from an undertrial who is presumed to be innocent and from a civil offender, but has granted it to a criminal convict (out on bail) whose guilt has been determined.
- This puts Section 62(5) in direct collision with Article 14 of the Constitution (equality before the law to all persons).
- Through the MLAs’ votes, the residents of their constituencies indirectly exercise their franchise in the election to the Vidhan Parishad. By preventing the two MLAs from casting their votes, the court has inadvertently stripped all their constituents of their franchise.
Way Ahead:
- Whenever a law treats two groups of persons unequally, it must satisfy a set of basic tests under Article 14 to be valid: the distinction created by the law must be based on coherent differences between the two groups of persons, and these differences must have a rational link with the objective that the law seeks to achieve.
- Section 62(5) treats a group of people differently by stripping them of the right to vote.
- As alternatives, the provision could have disenfranchised persons convicted of certain heinous offences or those sentenced for a minimum duration.
- In the U.K., for instance, only convicts sentenced to prison for four years or more cannot vote.
- In Germany, only persons convicted of certain political offences are disenfranchised.
- Where the law formerly restricted all prisoners from voting (Canada, for instance), constitutional courts intervened and struck it down for being arbitrary and disproportionate.
Conclusion
- The apex court must re-examine the issue in the totality of its circumstances and Parliament must replace the provision with a tightly worded version disenfranchising only certain classes of prisoners.
Recent Articles
- Most Important Acts, Bills in News 2024
- Most Important Places in News 2024
- Mains Monthly Magazine: December 2023
- An exchange – Analyzing the Vaibhav Fellowship Program | 26 January 2024 | UPSC Daily Editorial Analysis
- India’s problem — different drugs, identical brand names – Drug Name Confusion Threatens Patient Safety in India | 25 January 2024 | UPSC Daily Editorial Analysis
- The truth about India’s booming toy exports – Protectionism or Productivity? | 24 January 2024 | UPSC Daily Editorial Analysis
- Tax contribution by States needs to be revisited – Time to Recognize State Efficiency through Tax Contribution | 23 January 2024 | UPSC Daily Editorial Analysis
- A revival of the IMEC idea amid choppy geopolitics – Could India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC) become the New Silk Road? | 22 January 2024 | UPSC Daily Editorial Analysis
- Gearing up for change – Monsoon Trends in India: Analyzing the Impact on Agriculture and Climate Resilience | 20 January 2024 | UPSC Daily Editorial Analysis
- Crafting a new phase in India-U.K. defence ties – Strengthening India-U.K. Defense Cooperation | 19 January 2024 | UPSC Daily Editorial Analysis
Popular Articles
- UPSC CSE 2022 Mains GS 1 Paper Model Answers
- Model Answers for UPSC CSE 2021 GS 2 Paper
- SPR 2023 | SPECIES IN NEWS
- UPSC CSE 2023 Mains GS 2 Paper Model Answers
- Model Answers for UPSC CSE 2020 GS 2 Paper
- UPSC CSE 2023 Mains GS 1 Paper Model Answers
- PDS: objectives, functioning, limitations, revamping
- Land Revenue System during British rule in India
- Govt policies & interventions for development in various sectors, and issues arising out of their design and implementation
- UPSC CSE 2022 Mains GS 2 Paper Model Answers
Popular Topics
ART & CULTURE
CASE STUDIES
COMMITTEES & SUMMITS
DISASTER MANAGEMENT
ECONOMICS
ECONOMICS PREMIUM
ECONOMICS STATIC
ECONOMIC SURVEY
EDITORIAL
ENVIRONMENT & ECOLOGY
ENVIRONMENT PREMIUM
ETHICS
GEOGRAPHY
GEOGRAPHY PREMIUM
GEOGRAPHY STATIC
HEALTH
HISTORY
HISTORY PREMIUM
HISTORY STATIC
INDIAN POLITY
INDIAN POLITY PREMIUM
INDIAN POLITY STATIC
INTEGRITY & APTITUDE
INTERNAL SECURITY & DEFENSE
INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
LITE SUBSCRIPTION PREMIUM
MAINS
MAINS CORNER PREMIUM
PLUS SUBSCRIPTION PREMIUM
POLITY & GOVERNANCE
PRELIMS
PRELIMS CURRENT AFFAIRS MAGAZINE
PRO SUBSCRIPTION PREMIUM
REPORTS
SAMAJHO'S CORNER PREMIUM
SAMAJHO ANALYSIS
SAMAJHO CORNER PREMIUM
SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
SELF PREPARATION
SMAP ANSWER WRITING
SOCIETY
SPR
SYLLABUS
TELEGRAM
YOJANA GIST