Convicts and under trials cannot contest polls: Supreme Court

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court has barred convicts and persons under trial from contesting elections, saying that if they cannot vote, they cannot be in the electoral fray either. A bench of the apex court on Thursday upheld an earlier ruling of the Patna High Court, which in April 2004 had upheld a petition that sought to prevent those ineligible to vote from contesting elections. The plea was filed by non-profit organisation Jan Chaukidar.


“We do not find any infirmity in the findings… that a person who has no right to vote by virtue of Section 62(5) of the Representation of the People Act, 1951, is not an elector and is therefore not qualified to contest the elections to the House of the People or the Legislative Assembly of a state,” the court said.

Section 62(5) bars persons confined in jail or in judicial or police custody from voting during elections. Only those under preventive detention are allowed to vote. The Supreme Court’s ruling, however, does not disqualify people under preventive detention from filing nominations.

The development means that the Election Commission will now reject the nomination papers of such persons on the ground that they are not “electors” on the electoral rolls, as they cannot vote.

On Wednesday, the Supreme Court had quashed a provision in the country’s electoral law that shielded convicted lawmakers from disqualification on the ground that their appeal was pending in a higher court.

The Patna High Court ruling had been challenged by the Chief Election Commissioner as polling was underway in the state and the court ruling had affected the process, since it led to rejection of several nominations.