EC: No provision to allow undertrials, prisoners to vote

JAIPUR: It is a paradox that a person convicted for less than two years can contest elections, but undertrials as well as prisoners are not allowed to exercise their right to franchise.


According to the election office here, only those who were taken into preventive arrests are being released during the election to participate in the

voting

process, while other prisoners, including undertrials are not permitted to participate in the electoral process.

Rajasthan chief electoral officer Anand Kumar on pointed out of this anomaly said, “So far there is no provision to allow the undertrials to exercise their franchise. Only those who were in preventive detention are facilitated participate in the election process.”

Vandana Sharma, an inmate of the Open Jail in Jaipur asks why the prisoners and under tails are denied of their basic rights. “Are we not humans or lost out nationality because in a specific circumstance committed a crime. We have Aadhar and we are also affected by price rise and other factors which affect every fellow citizen,” she says.

By birth nobody is a criminal and the so-called criminals are also creation of the society. She said giving voting rights to under-trials and prisoners is the first step to jail reform.

State Human Rights Commission chairman Justice Prakash Tatia said, “The right to exercise one’s franchise does not come under the ambit of the human rights. These are acquired rights which are being provided by the state.”

He said, so far nobody approached the commission with any complaint as well.

Kavita Srivastav, president of PUCL Rajasthan, said, “PUCL stands for voting rights for prisoners and undertrials.”

But she said, the task is ensuring coercion-free voting in a prison environment. She said a PIL is also pending in the Supreme Court on the issue.