New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Tuesday brought the curtains down on a nearly decade-old batch of petitions seeking directions to the Centre and the poll panel to allow postal or proxy voting by NRIs and migrant workers, after taking note of the attorney general's assurance in this regard.
A bench comprising Chief Justice UU Lalit and Justice Bela M Trivedi, at the outset of the hearing, made it clear that such matters which had led to the formation of a committee by the Election Commission and subsequent tabling of a Bill to this effect in one of the houses of Parliament cannot be entertained any longer.
"Sorry. We will just close this. These are the matters which are pending for the last nine-ten years," the bench observed before closing them.
The bench said Attorney General R Venkataramani has assured that every step will be taken to ensure that the persons living outside and the migrant labourers are part of the electoral process and the voting facility shall be extended by maintaining the confidentiality of elections.
It said the notice on the lead PIL filed by one Nagender Chindam was issued in February 2013 and, thereafter, a committee was constituted by the poll panel to look into the matter "with regard to ways and means to facilitate voting for the NRIs and migrant workers".
"The committee thereafter submitted a report in the court and the proceedings further indicate that the central government had accepted the recommendations made by the Election Commission and thereafter, decided to introduce the Representation of Peoples Amendment Bill in 2018 in the Lok sabha to amend a provision of section 60 of the Act," it recorded in the order.
The amendment was intended to enable the overseas electors to cast votes through proxy, it said.
"The Bill was passed in the Lok Sabha. However, the same was not introduced in Rajya Sabha and as a result, the Bill lapsed. There has not been any development on that front thereafter," it said.
The bench then proceeded to record the statement of the Attorney General that the matter was under consideration of the authorities concerned and a solution will be found to enable the overseas persons and migrant workers to cast their votes with confidentiality in that electoral process.
The bench said that when the first plea was filed in 2013, nothing was being done to enable such persons to cast their votes.