HC rejects NRI's plea on overseas voting rights

NT Correspondent

Bengaluru: The Karnataka High Court on Tuesday dismissed a petition by a Non Resident Indian (NRI) Kannadiga seeking to exercise voting rights from the country of his residence.

The petitioner, Ravi M, the founder and joint secretary of the Sagarottara Kannadigaru Association (Association of Overseas Kannadigas) had submitted a representation on April 17, 2023 to the chief electoral officer requesting to provide for voting facilities for NRIs from their respective countries. The petitioner claimed that the CEO had not responded to the request to allow voting from abroad in the upcoming Assembly elections in Karnataka on May 10.

A vacation division bench headed by Justice Krishna S Dixit which heard the petition dismissed the petition stated, “The submission that the right to vote needs to be given to NRIs runs counter to this long standing electoral jurisprudence.”

The court cited the Election Commission’s objections that said the right to vote is not a fundamental right. “It is a creature of law. Therefore unless law is shown which provides for voting, the right to vote cannot be sought for,” the EC had claimed. The Election Commission of India, State of Karnataka and the Chief Electoral Of ficer were made the respondents in the PIL.

“The Election Commission always provides an opportunity to employees of the State and Central Government who reside in the country. If an employee resides in Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar or any other State they will be facilitated for casting their respective votes,” the public interest litigation claimed. The PIL stated that there were 60 lakh NRIs who are eligible to vote from across the world.

It also pointed out that countries like the Philippines and Italy allowed their non-resident citizens to vote from abroad. Ravi, who cl ai med he was a nurse in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabi a founded the Sagarottara Kannadigaru association in the UK “to represent t h e overseas Kannadigas through out the world.”

“If any opportunity is given t o t he petitioner and other NRIs to cast their votes from their respective residing countries, the same would be useful and interest of the voters would be protected, if the interim order is not g ranted the petitioner and other NRIs may be deprived of their right of voting in the upcoming general elections,” the PIL had said.