The eligibility threshold: How right to vote affects right to contest, Pg16

Key Highlights:

• The Supreme Court has reiterated that the right to vote and the right to contest elections are not fundamental rights.
• A candidate must be enrolled as a voter to contest, as per the Representation of the People Act.
• The Supreme Court rejected a petition from a Tamil Nadu candidate whose name was deleted from the electoral roll.
• Rule 23(5) of the Registration of Electoral Rules 1960 allows for roll amendment if an appeal is successful.

Detailed Insights:

• The right to vote enables franchise as per the statutory scheme, while the right to contest is subject to qualifications, eligibility, and disqualifications.
• Eligibility is a threshold condition for entering the electoral arena, and its absence merely postpones the right to contest until conditions are met.
• A large-scale administrative exercise like the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) can lead to candidates being unaware of their deletion from electoral rolls.
• The Election Commission (EC) argued that once nominations are closed and rolls are frozen, there is no mechanism to include a deleted name before polling day, except through a supplementary list directed by an appellate tribunal.
• The Supreme Court established in Jyoti Basu v Debi Ghosal (1982) that the right to contest an election is purely statutory.
• K Krishna Murthy v Union of India (2010) reiterated that rights of political participation are subject to statutory controls.

Key Concepts Involved:

• Right to Vote: The legal entitlement to participate in the election of representatives.
• Right to Contest: The legal entitlement to stand as a candidate in an election.
• Electoral Roll: The official list of eligible voters for a specific constituency.
• Representation of the People Act: Legislation governing the conduct of elections in India.