BENGALURU: Inmates in jails are barred from exercising their franchise whereas leaders facing criminal charges can contest, even if they are in prisons.
More than 16,000 prisoners in the state will not be able to cast their vote. As per Section 62(5) of the Representation of the Peoples Act, 1951, “No person shall vote at any election if he is confined in a prison, whether under a sentence of imprisonment or transportation or otherwise or is in the lawful custody of the police.” This, however, does not apply to those on bail.
“It’s an anomaly that prison inmates who are undertrials or convicts cannot cast their votes whereas individuals with criminal charges can contest elections even if they are inside the prison,” said Dr ST Ramesh, former chief of Karnataka Prison Department. He added that the option of postal ballots could be extended to prisons.
There are 16,510 prisoners in the state, including 12,823 undertrials. ADGP (Correctional Services) Manish Kharbikar said the law “does not allow a prison inmate to cast a vote, hence no voting arrangements have been made inside prisons.”
Former Lokayukta Justice N Santhosh Hegde said, ‘The statutory rights of a person remain intact even when they are sent to prison. Food, healthcare, education and other basic facilities are still made accessible to them.”
Former Karnataka state prosecutor BT Venkatesh said the Election Commission (EC) is at fault for not making such provisions despite the fact that prisons are “reformative” in nature. “Prisons are correctional centres and help inmates develop skills so that when they are released they can contribute productively towards society. Why can’t they be allowed to vote? They are citizens of India,” he said while questioning the blanket ban on voting rights of prisoners.
Prison Reforms Programme, Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI), Madhurima Dhanuka said if prisoners are allowed to vote “it would be beneficial for jail reforms as well. Usually, nobody looks at them since they are not part of the vote bank. This is also one of the reasons behind the poor condition of our prison setup. There is an immediate need to change the law.”