Can a jailed MLA vote? Supreme Court says it will examine the laws

The SC was responding to pleas by two Maharashtra MLAs, Anil Deshmukh and Nawab Malik, who had sought permission to cast their votes in the MLC elections in the state

The Supreme Court on Monday said it would examine the law on the rights of jailed members of legislative assembly (MLAs) to vote, even as it denied interim relief to two imprisoned MLAs from Maharashtra to vote in the state legislative council elections. 

 

On Monday, former home minister of Maharashtra, Anil Deshmukh, and cabinet minister Nawab Malik had sought relief from the SC and asked to be released temporarily from jail for a day to cast their votes in the legislative council elections.

 

Malik and Deshmukh are in prison after being arrested in separate money laundering and corruption cases. The two leaders moved the court, contending that as members of the Legislative Assembly and representatives of their respective constituencies, they ought to be allowed to vote in the Council election. 

 

While an SC bench denied them the permission to cast a vote, the court observed that the plea raised a crucial legal question about an MLA's right to vote in MLC elections on behalf of his constituency.

 

A division bench of SC orally observed, "It is slightly undemocratic," that a person who has been elected to the assembly but cannot vote in the legislative council polls, The Economic Times quoted.

 

Last Friday, the Bombay High Court had also rejected the MLAs' petition to allow them to cast votes, saying that "the constitutional right to vote is not absolute."