NEELA GOKHALE Vs. UNION OF INDIA & ANR

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This group of matters has been filed essentially seeking directions from this Court to streamline the process and procedure of the casting of votes by the defence personnel in the General Elections held from time to time. The areas on which such streamlining has been sought can be broadly categorised into two. The first being devising ways and means for ensuring timely dispatch and receipt of postal ballot papers, so as to enable counting of such votes in the process of declaration of result of the election. The second is to consider whether a reasonable option can be given to a defence personnel to register himself as a voter in the station where he is posted without requiring him to be registered in his native place (place of domicile).

(2.) Inadequacies in the aforesaid two areas of the electoral process have been highlighted by contending that the window period of 14 days after the last date of withdrawal of nomination is too short for a manual exercise to be conducted to ensure timely receipt of ballot papers by the voters (defence personnel) and return of the marked ballots to the Returning Officer. Though no specific incidence or percentage of defence personnel who are denied their right to franchise by delayed receipt of postal ballot papers or the marked copy thereof by the Returning Officer has been cited, the Court has taken cognizance of the fact that such a window period could have adverse effects.

(3.) By various interim orders passed by this Court from time to time, ad-hoc/interim measures were suggested, which have perhaps led to issuance of the notification dated 21.10.2016 issued by the Ministry of Law and Justice inserting the following proviso after the proviso to sub-rule (1) of rule 23 of the Conduct of Election Rules, 1961, and also adding sub rule (1A). The said notification dated 21.10.2016 may be usefully extracted hereinbelow:-