THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Rekha K Nair, welfare officer of the Attakulangara Women’s Prison, was unsure about how to break the news to X (name cannot be disclosed), whose days-long wait for parole to meet her school-going children came to a bitter end.
She was to spend a month with them from March 18, before returning to the open prison for women in Thiruvananthapuram to serve her life term for murder. But all her excitement was snapped, as the election code of conduct came into force from March 17. This means no parole for prisoners till June 4, when the election results will be announced.
Like elsewhere in India, this norm applies to the 10,377 prisoners and 257 detainees under various acts across the state.
In the Poojappura Central Prison, some inmates say they are well-updated about the elections from the “censored” news they are allowed to read or watch. “But politics never becomes a talking point, except among some,” says Kumaran, a convict sentenced to life. “I was in the Army, and earlier used to vote via postal ballots.”
Another convict, who requests anonymity, says he misses the election action. “Just yesterday, my family asked me about this. We have accepted that we cannot vote,” he says.
Another one, who works at the petrol bunk manned by the inmates, says his term would get over in a few months. “If only it was earlier, I would have been on the campaign trail of my party,” he says, adding that he used to be an active worker of a mainstream party.
Officials maintain that there are no ripples of the election fervor within the high wall of prisons. “The inmates read newspapers and watch news. Some of them were party workers,” says Al Shan A, joint superintendent of Central Prisons.
“Some inmates engage in political discussions – but nothing is in the open. We do not encourage any fault lines based on party, caste, religion, etc.”
Notably, the prisoners’ right to vote has been a subject of debate for long. Even officials seem a tad confused about provisions under the Representation of People’s Act (RPA), 1951.
Some officials and legal experts say people in preventive detention are allowed to vote, and that undertrials could avail themselves of bail to exercise their right to franchise. Some broach the possibility of postal votes.
But others – including a lawyer who represented a law student who submitted a writ petition seeking voting rights for prisoners before the Supreme Court in 2019 – say “no one in lawful custody can vote”.
In 2022, the Supreme Court had directed the Centre and Election Commission to respond on the matter. However, in 2023, the petition was dismissed, citing two earlier judgements (in 1984 and 1997) that upheld the RPA statutes.
“This issue has been raised at various forums, but no conclusion has come about,” says a retired district judge, who does not wish to be named.
“No prisoner has voted till now, and there have been no requests for postal ballots. In my 33 years of service, I have never come across a bail application citing voting rights.”
Playing their part
Though prisoners don’t vote, they do play a role in the election process. They get ‘special assignments’ at the Government Press that runs on the Central Prison campus.
“We provide the press with manpower. During election time, the press undertakes additional workload besides printing routine material for government paperwork,” says S Vishnu, deputy superintendent of the prison.
“Usually, about 60 people are employed at the press. During polls, this goes up to 100. Election-related work at the press lasts for over a month. Earlier, it used to run late into the night. But now, the press tries to maintain normal daytime shifts.”
At the press, the prison inmates work on the boxes to encase the electronic voting machines. They also prepare the covers used for postal ballots. “Over 20 types of covers that are used to carry government documents are made at the press by the inmates,” says a prison official.
Section 62(5) of the Representation of People’s 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:
Provided that nothing in this subsection shall apply to a person subjected to preventive detention under any law for the time being in force.
Provided further that by reason of the prohibition to vote under this subsection, a person whose name has been entered in the electoral roll shall not cease to be an elector.