SC seeks Centre, EC reply on undertrials voting rights PIL

The Supreme Court Friday sought responses of the Centre and the Election Commission on a PIL seeking recognition of voting rights for nearly 4.5 lakh undertrial prisoners lodged in jails across India.

- PRESS TRUST OF INDIA

A bench comprising Chief Justice B R Gavai and Justice K Vinod Chandran took note of the submissions of lawyer Prashant Bhushan that the present blanket ban imposed under Section 62(5) of the Representation of the People Act, 1951, violates constitutional guarantees and international democratic norms.

The petition filed by Sunita Sharma, a resident of Patiala in Punjab, made the Centre, through the Ministry of Law and Justice and the Election Commission, as respondents.

“This petition concerns the voting rights of about 4,50,000 pretrial, under-trial, and non-finally convicted prisoners (excluding those prisoners who are in prisons for corrupt practices and offences connected with elections),” it said.