‘Unfortunate, why insistence on denying voting rights?’; High Court slams EC 

KOCHI: The Kerala High Court sharply criticized the Election Commission in the postal ballot case. The court termed it a serious situation that around 20,000 officials were unable to cast their votes, pointing out that those who worked for the Election Commission itself were denied the opportunity to vote. Questioning the Commission’s rigid stance of not allowing voting, the court said the situation was unfortunate.

The court emphasized that ensuring every citizen in India gets to exercise their right to vote is the responsibility of the election commission. The commission had argued that ballots could not be issued under Rule 27. However, the court observed that as a constitutional body, the Commission must ensure such issues do not recur and indicated it would examine what steps can be taken in this matter.

The high court was considering the plea filed by government employees who alleged they did not receive postal ballots to vote in the assembly elections. The commission informed the court that postal ballots could no longer be issued since strong rooms had already been sealed.

The petitioners, government employees Muhammed Sinan and M G Anil Kumar, approached the court stating that they were denied postal ballots despite applying for them.