NEW DELHI: An assurance by Attorney General R Venkataramani on Wednesday led to the Supreme Court to bring down curtains on a nearly decade-old batch of petition to allow postal or proxy voting by NRIs and Migrant workers.
A bench comprising Chief Justice Uday Umesh Lalit and Justice Bela M Trivedi, at the outset of the hearing, made it clear that such matters that led to formation of committees by the Election Commission or subsequent tabling of a Bill to this effect on Parliament cannot be entertained any longer.
Sorry. We will just close this. These are the matters which are pending for the last nine-ten years, the Bench observed before closing them.
The Bench said the Attorney General has assured that every step will be taken to ensure that the persons living outside and the migrant labourers are part of the electoral process and the voting facility shall be extended while maintaining the confidentiality of elections.
It referred to the notice issued in February 2013 on the lead PIL filed by one Nagender Chindam, leading to the Election Commission setting up a 12-member committee to examine ways and means to facilitate voting by the NRIs and migrant workers.
The EC had earlier said that the RP Act or the rules therein will have to be changed to allow NRIs to use proxy voting on the lines of defence personnel through e-ballot facility. The Centre had agreed in principle to the idea.
One of the petitioners had told the court that there was no need to amend the RP Act as changes in the rules will suffice to give the voting right to the NRIs.
The court noted in its order that the committee submitted a report to it and the proceedings indicate that the Centre has accepted the recommendations in this regard, leading to the introduction of a Bill in 2018 to amend the Representation of Peoples Act in the Lok Sabha to amend Section 60 of the Act to enable the overseas electors to cast votes through proxy.
The Bill was passed in the Lok Sabha. However, the same was not introduced in the Rajya Sabha and as a result the Bill lapsed. No further development on that front, the court noted.
The Bench then proceeded to record the statement of the Attorney General that the matter was under consideration by the authorities concerned and a solution will be found to enable the overseas persons and migrant workers to cast their votes with confidentiality.
The Bench said the purpose for which the writ petition was filed has been served and it sees no reason to enter it any longer. The petition is, therefore, disposed of and other subsequent pleas are also dismissed.
It has been hearing PILs filed by Chindam, chairman of the London-based Pravasi Bharat organisation and other NRIs, including Shamsheer VP. The petitions had said 114 countries, including 20 Asian nations, have adopted external voting, which could be held by setting up polling booths at diplomatic missions or through postal, proxy or electronic voting.
