Chief election commissioner (CEC) Naveen Chawla wants to give voting rights to undertrials and those under police custody.
Chief election commissioner (CEC) Naveen Chawla wants to give voting rights to undertrials and those under police custody. The CEC made the suggestion at a national seminar on electoral reforms organised by Foundation for Advanced Management of Elections (FAME), an NGO formed by former CEC JM Lyngdoh and several other former EC members.
Addressing a gathering of retired and present members of the election commission and legal luminaries, Chawla said, “
“The issue of giving the right to vote to undertrials and those under police custody is very close to my heart. Can we give them a voice in the electoral process? Denying them the right to vote is hardly justified given that the same persons can contest elections. I am of the view that such persons should not be denied the franchise.”
The CEC said he would suggest to the central government “to reconsider the relevant sections of the Representation of the People Act which prevent undertrials and those under police custody from casting their votes.”
It seems that Union law and justice minister Veerappa Moily concurs with Chawla’s view. The minister said that he wanted “holistic electoral reforms” and would “within 15 days” initiate a process for consultations on the reform agenda.
“There are lakhs of people who are entitled to vote but are not allowed to vote. It is a denial of their basic rights in a democracy,” Moily said. Speaking on the sidelines of the seminar, the law minister said, “I agree with the suggestion and feel that consultations on the matter must happen and yield results soon. Reforms are necessary.”
The law minister also established that he would go “the whole hog to implement electoral reforms” in response to a charge against successive governments by former chief justice of India Justice JS Verma, who said, “there will never be political will on electoral reforms since it would not suit any of the political forces.”
The CEC also stressed on the “great need” for youth to participate in the electoral reforms process. “We at the CEC need to sit and discuss seriously how to harness the youth with the process,” Chawla said. He said that during his visits to various university campuses he had got “significant ideas on electoral reform” from students.
The recent EC decision to allow transgenders and eunuchs to register themselves as “the other” sex in voter cards was, according to Chawla, the result of his deliberations with students.
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