The Election Commission of India is all set to inform the Supreme Court
that it is not possible now to allow the Gulf NRIs to cast their votes
externally.
The EC, a constitutional body, which is set to file its
reply later this week to a petition filed by Gulf NRI V.P. Shamsheer, is
of the view that unless Section 20A of Representation of People’s Act
is amended, NRIs can only be allowed to vote by being present at polling
stations where they are registered as voters.
The Indian apex court
will resume hearing on Shamsheer’s petition on April 7 after the poll
panel and the government file their replies. Incidentally, April 7 will
be the first day of the nine-phased general election which wraps up on
May 12.
Shamsheer’s petition says Section 20A is in violation of the
fundamental rights enshrined under article 14, 19 and 21 of the
constitution and seeks that all the NRIs living abroad should be allowed
to vote either in diplomatic commissions or make use of postal, proxy
or electronic voting for the purpose. The petition was filed last month.
The
petition of Shamsheer, who is a doctor and runs a chain of hospitals in
the UAE, claims that 114 countries in the world, including 20 from
Asia, have adopted external voting. Shamsheer’s name was removed from
the voters list in Calicut after he migrated to the UAE 12 years ago.
Source: Arab News
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