Srinagar: The detained Member of Legislative Assembly, Mehraj Malik, is likely to be granted postal ballot facility for the upcoming Rajya Sabha elections scheduled for October 24, sources said, adding, the law governing voting rights in India permits individuals under preventive detention to cast their votes in all electoral exercises.
The sources said that the Representation of the People Act, 1951 permits detainees to exercise their voting rights, but disallows voting rights to undertrials and convicts lodged in jails. Since Mehraj Malik is currently detained under the Public Safety Act (PSA), he is likely to be allowed to cast his vote through postal ballot from within the jail premises.
A local news agency, KNO, reported that Election Commission has written to the Jammu & Kashmir administration seeking details of detained elector(s) for the Rajya Sabha polls, along with information about the prison(s) where they are lodged. “The J&K administration has submitted details of Malik to the Returning Officer for the polls,” they added.
Malik has also filed a fresh petition in the Jammu & Kashmir High Court seeking permission to attend the upcoming Assembly session and cast his vote in the Rajya Sabha elections.
