Lawyer behind RTE takes TOI’s ‘lost votes’ fight to SC

INDORE: Inspired by The Times of India’s “Lost Votes” initiative, Indore’s veteran lawyer,

S P Anand

— whose petition had led to the right to education being made a fundamental right for children — has moved the Supreme Court asking that it direct the Election Commission to ensure that people on the move can exercise their franchise no matter where they are.


Anand has requested an urgent hearing — before the 2019 Lok Sabha polls — as it is the “constitutional duty of the respondents, including the Union of India, PM and Election Commission, to ensure every eligible voter of this country can vote”.

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“TOI has raised a very important issue since due to jobs or other reasons, voters, who have temporarily moved to another city or state, often cannot vote as their name is not registered at the new place. Although they are eligible to vote, they cannot,” said the 89-year-old lawyer, asking: “Isn’t denial of the right to vote to one-third (of India’s) voters a fraud on democracy and the Constitution itself?”



He pointed to TOI’s January 6 report , which mentioned how the US, UK, Germany, Australia, Estonia and New Zealand had enabled their voters to vote from outside their hometowns. “The same modifications should be made in our Constitution to ensure maximum participation of electors,” Anand said. “The writ petition argues that the right to vote is a fundamental right. The prevailing practice — which requires voters to check voter lists and take steps to get their name included — should be held unconstitutional as it the binding duty of the respondents to prepare and revise the list,” Anand said.

The present laws and rules that deny voters the right to vote are unconstitutional and should be changed before the dates fixed for the general election or any other election in India.

The fundamental right to vote should be protected by permitting its exercise by such means as deemed just and convenient,” his petition says.

Anand, who has filed the writ petition as founder trustee of Anand Trust, says he has filed around 5,000 petitions — including one that made compulsory the providing of education to all children till the age of 14 years. He says he helped the RSS lift a ban on the organisation in 1992-93.