Upholding the citizen’s expectation of transparency from political parties about their electoral candidates, the Supreme Court has said that the right of a voter to make an informed choice is a crucial component of the essence of democracy, “The right to vote, based on an informed choice, is a crucial component of the essence of democracy. This right is precious and was the result of a long and arduous fight for freedom, for ‘Swaraj’, where the citizen has an inalienable right to exercise her or his right to franchise,” a Bench headed by Justice S. Ravindra Bhat observed in a judgment on Monday.
The judgment upheld a Telangana High Court order dismissing a Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) MP’s appeal in an election case. Congress candidate K Madan Mohan Rao had challenged the election of BRS MP Bhim Rao Baswanth Rao Patil from Zaheerabad Lok Sabha constituency before the High Court. Rao claimed that Patil had not disclosed pending cases and convictions against him in his poll affidavit, thereby suppressing the information from voters.
Patil had contended that under the provisions of the Representation of People Act, 1951, there was no need to disclose the “so-called” criminal cases as he had not been sentenced to imprisonment of more than a year.
But the apex court dismissed Patil’s plea while upholding the voter’s right to know about the full background of a candidate. The court also highlighted how the right to vote was yet to be recognised as a Fundamental Right. “Yet, somewhat paradoxically, the right to vote has not been recognised as a Fundamental Right yet; it was termed as a ‘mere’ statutory right,” the Bench said.
