E-Paper
Need to curb bogus voting, booth capturing with iron hand: SC
The SC bench noted that election is a mechanism that represents the will of the people and democracy and free election have been said to be part of the basic structure of the Constitution.
Booth capturing and bogus voting should be dealt with an iron hand, said the Supreme Court on Friday while upholding the conviction of eight persons involved in rioting and causing injuries with firearms outside a polling station in what is now Jharkhand ahead of the 1989 Lok Sabha elections.
Directing the eight to surrender forthwith and undergo the remaining sentence of six months, a bench of Justices DY Chandrachud and MR Shah said, “The essence of the electoral system should be to ensure freedom of voters to exercise their free choice. Therefore, any attempt at booth capturing, or bogus voting should be dealt with iron hands because it ultimately affects the rule of law and democracy.”
The eight have been found guilty of beating a Bharatiya Janata Party worker after he refused to hand over voter slips to them. They also fired and caused injuries to bystanders.
The bench said nobody can be permitted to dilute the right to a free and fair election. It added that in past judgments of the Supreme Court, it is well laid out that election is a mechanism that represents the will of the people, and it is for this reason, democracy, and the free election has been said to be part of the basic structure of the Constitution.
“An important part of strengthening democracy and free election is by ensuring secrecy of casting vote,” the bench said, citing the 2013 judgment in Peoples Union of Civil Liberties case which held that freedom of voting is a part of the fundamental right of freedom of expression.
“It is observed that in direct elections of Lok Sabha or State Legislature, maintenance of secrecy is a must and is insisted upon all over the world in democracies where direct elections are involved to ensure that a voter casts his vote without any fear or being victimized if his vote is disclosed,” the bench said.
The eight accused, Lakshman Singh, Shiv Kumar Singh, Upendra Singh, Vijay Singh, Sanjay Prasad Singh, Rajmani Singh, Ayodhya Prasad Singh, and Ramadhar Singh, approached the top court against an order passed by the Jharkhand high court on October 31, 2018, rejecting their appeals against their conviction. Previously, a trial court in July 1999 held them guilty of rioting and voluntarily causing hurt.
The bench noted that the punishment of six months was less. But it did not pass any orders to this effect as the state had not sought enhancement of the prison term. The bench found that the charges against the eight persons were proved by the testimony of witnesses. The witnesses told police and the trial court that the accused came to the booth with an intention “to snatch the voters’ list and bogus voting”.
