The Supreme Court on Friday refused to grant any interim relief to 11,000 odd registered NRI voters who demanded right to vote in the lok Sabha polls through postal ballot or any other means from their place of work.
The court, which found the demand by the NRIs “genuine”, found the request too late in the day to be entertained, particularly when three phases of elections was over. “After polling is over in Delhi and Kerala (having maximum NRIs) is it possible to have postal ballots for NRIs on remaining seats.
Will it not open a Pandora Box,” said a Bench of Justices KS Radhakrishnan and Vikramajit Sen.
But holding out hope for the NRI community to participate in future elections, the Bench asked Election Commission to submit a report of its committee examining feasibility of allowing NRIs to vote through internet. The matter is expected to be taken by in August next.
The Bench said, “Your claim is very genuine. Nobody is contesting the claim that as citizens you have a right to vote. But can we do it when elections are on.” The issue was raised by UAE-based NRI VP Shamsheer, who owns a chain of hospitals in the Middle East. Shamsheer challenged the validity of Section 20A of Representation of People Act 1950 that required NRIs to be physically present in the polling booth to cast their vote.
With majority Indians employed as labourers abroad, the bench realized the practical difficulty faced by NRI community to get leave and travel to India to cast vote. The Election Commission, which was asked to examine the petition and suggest remedy, filed an affidavit that said, “It is not practically possible to notify the overseas electors from various constituencies in the country settled in various parts of the world as a notified class of voters for the purpose of voting by postal ballot only.” Such a facility was available to people “forced to migrate temporarily from their native places under special circumstances”, the affidavit added, justifying the facility of postal ballots being provided to armed forces personnel and those staying in migrant camps, such as Kashmiri Pandits and Brus/Reangs of Mizoram, etc.
Senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, who argued the petition, demanded that for the interim, the Government could consider issuing a notification for extending postal ballot facility to about 11,800 NRI voters as they did for defence personnel stationed at peace stations. By that same rule, the court reasoned why similar benefit should not be extended to persons employed in private sector abroad.
The EC committee is expected to begin work after conclusion of polls. The Court directed the poll panel to compile its report in three months and submit to court by August.