The government has decided to give proxy voting rights to over 25 million non-resident Indians (NRIs) spread across the world, attorney general KK Venugopal told the Supreme Court on Friday.
“An amendment (has to) be made in the relevant central law (the Representation of People Act), and the government intends to introduce a bill in the winter session of Parliament for the purpose,” Venugopal informed an apex court bench.
The top court has given the government 12 weeks to carry out the exercise.
The court was hearing separate petitions filed by VP Shamsheer, a UAE-based doctor, and Nagender Chindam, chairman of Pravasi Bharat in London, on the issue of according voting rights to NRIs. These petitions have been pending for three years now.
The Election Commission of India had already recommended that the government take necessary steps to amend the law for NRI voters. It had prepared a report titled ‘Exploring Feasibility of Alternative Options for Voting by Overseas Electors’ and presented it to the court in October 2014.