Special court refuses one-day bail to Malik, Deshmukh to vote in RS polls; duo moves HC

Mumbai: A special court here on Thursday rejected the pleas of Maharashtra minister Nawab Malik and former minister Anil Deshmukh seeking a day's bail to vote in the Rajya Sabha elections to be held on Friday, following which both the NCP leaders moved the Bombay High Court.

Deshmukh and Malik's lawyers mentioned the petitions before a single bench of Justice P D Naik seeking an urgent hearing. In their petitions, the duo has sought that they either be granted a temporary bail of one day or be allowed to cast their vote at the polling booth in the presence of a police escort. Justice Naik initially said the matter would have to be heard by the appropriate court, but later said he would hear both the petitions on Friday morning.

Voting for the six seats of the Rajya Sabha in the state will be held at the Vidhan Bhavan, the state legislature complex, in south Mumbai, between 9 am and 4 pm. Rajya Sabha members are elected by MLAs.

Special judge R N Rokade, assigned to hear matters related to the offences registered against MPs and MLAs, while rejecting Deshmukh and Malik's application seeking one-day bail noted that undertrials are not entitled to vote in the Rajya Sabha elections under the provisions of the Representation of the People Act.

"In view of this, the accused cannot claim entitlement to get the facility to go to Vidhan Bhavan and vote for the biennial elections," the order said.

Deshmukh and Malik are both in prison following their arrest in different money laundering cases.

Special Judge Rokade in his order noted that the right to vote is not a fundamental right but a statutory right and is subject to limitation.

The court further said it is imperative to note that there is a difference between voting for the Presidential elections and the Rajya Sabha polls. Presidential elections are governed by the Presidential and Vice-Presidential Elections Act, 1952. There are no provisions under the said Act to prohibit the undertrial to cast vote in the Presidential Elections.

"In the case at hand, there is express provision provided under section 62(5) of the Representation of People Act, 1951. In view of the said provision, I am inclined to hold that the accused is not entitled to vote in Rajya Sabha elections," Judge Rokade said.

Deshmukh was arrested by the ED in November 2021 on money laundering charges, while Malik was arrested in February this year in connection with a money laundering probe linked to the activities of fugitive gangster Dawood Ibrahim and his aides.