The Supreme Court has agreed to examine a plea seeking postal ballot voting for students studying outside their home constituencies. The petition argues that denying students this facility is arbitrary and violates their constitutional right to vote.
New Delhi: The Supreme Court of India on Wednesday agreed to examine a petition seeking directions to the Central Government and the Election Commission of India to extend the postal ballot voting facility to student voters, especially those studying in educational institutions outside their home constituencies.
A Bench comprising Justices Vikram Nath, Sandeep Mehta and N V Anjaria issued notice to the Centre and the Election Commission after senior advocate K Parameshwar pointed out that while even a person under preventive detention is allowed to vote through postal ballot, students are not given the same facility.
The Bench has sought responses from the Centre and the Election Commission within four weeks on the plea filed by 24-year-old Jayasudhagar J, a student of Tamil Nadu National Law University.
During the hearing, Parameshwar submitted that under Section 135B of the Representation of the People Act, 1951, a public holiday is declared for government offices on polling day, but university and college students do not get any leave to cast their votes.
The plea, filed through advocate Jose Abraham, requested the court to issue directions to the authorities to extend the postal ballot voting facility to student voters, particularly those enrolled in institutions located outside their home constituencies, and to create an effective mechanism enabling them to exercise their right to vote.
It stated,
“Students, despite being a sizable and distinct class of electors who face genuine and unavoidable practical impediments in travelling to their home constituencies on polling day, are not recognised as a separate category eligible for any alternative voting mechanism. The present legal framework, therefore, effectively disables them from exercising the constitutional right to vote,”.
The petition further argued that this exclusion violates the right to equality under Article 14, the freedom of speech and expression under Article 19(l)(a), and the right to life and dignity under Article 21 of the Constitution.
It also pointed out,
“Under the Representation of People Act 1951, employees are granted paid leave under Section 135B of the Representation of the People Act, 1951, and specific classes such as service voters and persons on election duty are granted postal ballot facilities under Section 60 read with Rule 18 of the Conduct of Elections Rules, 1961, but students are unjustifiably excluded without any intelligible differentia or rational nexus.”
The plea strongly asserted,
“This categorical exclusion, which operates solely on account of their status as students despite their fundamental rights being equally implicated, is arbitrary and unconstitutional,”.
Seeking broader electoral inclusion, the petition urged the court to direct the authorities to expand postal voting to include students so that the voices of young voters, first-time electors, and future leaders of the country are not silenced but meaningfully enabled to participate in the democratic process.
It further requested directions to frame proper guidelines or amend the Conduct of Elections Rules, 1961, to ensure that students are not deprived of their right to vote due to lack of leave or denial of postal ballot facilities.
Section 60 of the Representation of the People Act, 1951 lays down the special procedure for voting by postal ballot for certain categories of voters, which is governed by the Conduct of Elections Rules, 1961.
Under Rule 18 of these Rules, postal ballot voting is currently permitted for special voters such as the President, Vice-President, Governors and Union Cabinet Ministers, service voters including members of the armed forces and government employees posted abroad, voters on election duty like polling personnel and security staff, electors under preventive detention, and any other category notified by the Election Commission in consultation with the government.
The plea highlighted that according to an Election Commission notification dated February 8, 2024, there are about 1.84 crore voters in the 18-19 age group, most of whom are first-time voters and students.
It further stated that there are around 19.74 crore voters in the 20-29 age group, which includes a large number of students pursuing undergraduate, postgraduate, and doctoral studies across the country.
Emphasising the impact of exclusion, the plea stated,
“This shows that students and young people together make up a very large part of the voting population in our country. If this important section of society is ignored, and no steps are taken to provide them a leave or a holiday on the day of polling or a postal voting opportunity many of them will not be able to cast their votes. As a result, their participation in the election process becomes very limited,”.
The matter will now be taken up after the Centre and the Election Commission file their responses.
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