Ibni Maqbool
Srinagar, Oct 15: The detained Member of Legislative Assembly, Mehraj Malik, is likely to be granted postal ballot facility for the upcoming Rajya Sabha elections scheduled for October 24, sources disclosed.
Sources said that the law governing voting rights in India permits individuals under preventive detention to cast their votes in all electoral exercises.
“The Representation of the People Act, 1951 permits detainees to exercise their voting rights, but disallows voting rights to undertrials and convicts lodged in jails. Since Mehraj Malik is currently detained under the Public Safety Act (PSA), he is likely to be allowed to cast his vote through postal ballot from within the jail premises,” they said.
According to sub-section (5) of Section 62 of the Representation of the People Act, 1951, individuals confined in prison-whether serving a sentence of imprisonment, undergoing transportation, or held in police custody-are not entitled to vote. However, the proviso to this sub-section clarifies that the restriction does not apply to individuals subjected to preventive detention under any law currently in force.
This legal provision makes it unambiguously clear that persons under preventive detention retain their right to vote in all elections.
Sources disclosed that the Election Commission has written to the Jammu & Kashmir administration seeking details of detained elector(s) for the Rajya Sabha polls, along with information about the prison(s) where they are lodged. “The J&K administration has submitted details of Malik to the Returning Officer for the polls,” they added.
As per rules governing voting rights of detainees, the Returning Officer shall send the postal ballot to the jail where the detainees are lodged.
Malik has also filed a fresh petition in the Jammu & Kashmir High Court seeking permission to attend the upcoming Assembly session and cast his vote in the Rajya Sabha elections.
