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Showing contexts for: proxy voting in Shivchandra Prasad Navin vs The Union Of India &Amp; Ors on 13 August, 2010Matching Fragments
Heard learned advocates.
The petitioner, a Headmaster in the
Government Middle School, has filed this petition
under Article 226 of the Constitution in public interest to enforce the right to vote conferred upon each citizen including the government servants on election duty.
It is the claim of the petitioner that ordinarily school teachers are engaged by the State Government for election duty either for the Parliamentary Election or for the State legislative Assembly Election. It is his grievance that such teachers and other government servants, who are on election duty, are deprived of their right to cast vote at such elections. It is, therefore, prayed that the employees on election duty be permitted to cast their vote by proxy.
The petition is contested by learned advocate Mr. J.P.Karn. He has submitted that adequate provisions are made in the Conduct of Elections Rules, 1961 for voting by the Government servants on election duty. He has relied upon Rule 18 of the said Rules. Rule 18 provides for the persons entitled to vote by post. Clause
(a) (iii) specifically refers to voters on election duty. Rule 20 provides for the procedure and the Forms to be filled in by such voters.
Learned advocate Mr. Karn has contested the demand of the petitioner for permission to vote by proxy. He has relied upon Rules 27M & 27N of the Rules to submit that the right to vote by proxy is conferred upon classified service voters alone. The classified service voters are those who are mentioned in Rules 27M & 27N read with section 60 of the Representation of the People Act, 1951 and section 20 (8) of the Representation of the People Act, 1950. Right to vote by proxy can be exercised by those categories of persons alone and by none else. The voters on election duty are not included in the category of classified service voters defined in Rule 27M of the Rules. Government servants on election duty cannot be permitted to vote by proxy.