Delhi HC rejects petition seeking voting rights for prisoners

The Delhi High Court on Wednesday rejected a petition seeking voting rights for prisoners observing that the Representation of the People Act does not allow prisoners to cast vote from jails.

A bench of Chief Justice DN Patel and Justice C Hari Shankar said that the Supreme Court has already ruled that the right to cast vote was provided by a statute and it is neither a fundamental right nor a common law right.

The court dismissed the plea taking note of top court rulings and the statutory position.

The court was hearing a public interest litigation filed by three law students Praveen Kumar Chaudhary, Atul Kumar Dubey and Prerna Singh seeking voting rights for all prisoners all over the country challenging the constitutionality of Section 62(5) of the Representation of the People Act according to which prisoners are deprived of their right to vote. The Election Commission opposed the plea citing top court ruling.