SC seeks Centre, EC response on plea to grant voting rights to undertrial prisoners

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on 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. 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. It seeks judicial intervention to ensure that prisoners, who have not been convicted of electoral offences or corruption, are not arbitrarily deprived of their democratic right to vote.