New Delhi:The Supreme Court on Friday declined to entertain a plea seeking postal ballot rights for students, who reside outside their native places.
The matter came up before a bench led by Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Kumar and comprising Justice Sanjay Kumar. The bench said that many people, who reside in different cities due to employment or due to some other reason, face issues regarding casting of their vote.
The CJI, while pointing at Justice Kumar, said “Look at my brother judge, who goes back to his native place to cast his vote”. Justice Kumar said that he travels to his home town, Hyderabad, to cast his ballot.
The bench said the answer to this scenario is straightforward, either travel to the native place or apply for a voter registration transfer to the current place of residence. The bench stressed that the postal ballot system is reserved for specific categories such as defence personnel and the elderly.
The counsel, representing the petitioner, suggested using the electronic voting model available for Non-Resident Indians (NRIs) to facilitate students’ voting rights.
The apex court was hearing a plea filed by Arnab Kumar Mullick. The plea was argued by advocate PK Mullick.
The plea highlighted concerns in connection with the students’ ability to participate meaningfully in elections if they were disconnected from the local issues of their registered constituency. However, the apex court was not convinced with this contention and said, “we cannot help this…”.
The bench said the Election Commission of India (ECI) already provides a mechanism for students residing outside their constituency to register as voters at their current location. The manual on electoral rolls specifically allows students living in hostels, messes, or lodges to enrol as voters at their place of study, provided they meet the eligibility criteria.
“In view of the manual on electoral rolls and the concerned provision in it, we aren’t inclined to proceed further with this writ petition...”, said the apex court, dismissing the petition.
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