JOMON JACOB Vs. STATE ELECTION COMMISSION

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Persons with mental illness or persons with intellectual disabilities are also citizens of this country, and they are our brothers and sisters. Sec. 4 of the Mental Health Care Act, 2017 (for short Act 2017) says that every person, including a person with mental illness, shall be deemed to have the capacity to make decisions regarding their mental health care or treatment, if such person has the abilities mentioned in sub clauses (a) to (c) of that Sec. . A strange prayer is sought for in this Writ Petition. According to the petitioners, voters who are currently in a rehabilitation centre for persons with mental disabilities are unable to cast their votes according to their will, and therefore, their votes are to be kept in a separate electronic voting machine and recorded digitally while they cast their votes in the ensuing general election of 2025. No documents are produced to show that they are mentally challenged or have a mental illness. They are not even a party in this writ petition, at least in a representative capacity. What an insult to those persons who are said to be in a rehabilitation centre!

(2.) I will narrate the facts in this case in brief:

(3.) After publishing the Ext.P1 voters list, and after knowing that they were included in the final voters list, the petitioners approached the 2nd and 3rd respondents to remove those persons from the voters list, as evident by Ext.P3 representation. Ext.P4 is the acknowledgement showing the receipt of Ext.P3 representation. The petitioners also submitted an application to the 2nd respondent, as evident from Ext. P5 and Ext. P6, which is the postal receipt showing the dispatch of Ext. P5. But, after submitting Ext. P3 and Ext. P5, there is no response. Therefore, it is submitted that it is highly necessary to keep their votes separately classified as challenged votes, and that these should be recorded on a separate electronic voting machine. Hence, this Writ Petition is filed seeking the following reliefs: