The Madras High Court said on Friday that while every citizen had a duty to vote in elections, it was not possible for courts to compel the electorate to cast their vote on polling day..A Bench of Chief Justice SV Gangapurwala and D Bharatha Chakravarthy disposed of a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) seeking directions to every employer in Tamil Nadu to demand proof from employees of having voted on polling day, to ensure that employees had indeed used their day off from work for casting their votes..The PIL filed by lawyer B Ramkumar Adityan had claimed that while most establishments in the State remain shut on polling day, employees use the day for leisure instead of going to the polling stations to cast their vote. Adityan had demanded that after the upcoming 2024 Lok Sabha elections, all employers must ask their employees to show their voting slips, or other proof..The High Court, however, said that the PIL raised a “fanciful issue,” and no law existed that enabled it to pass such an order.It further said that no one could compel a person to vote if they chose not to exercise such a “valuable right despite availing of a paid holiday on polling day under Section 135B of the Representation of the People Act, 1951.”.“How can anyone compel a person to vote? It is their duty but they are not bound by any law to compulsorily cast their votes,” the High Court said.
The Madras High Court said on Friday that while every citizen had a duty to vote in elections, it was not possible for courts to compel the electorate to cast their vote on polling day..A Bench of Chief Justice SV Gangapurwala and D Bharatha Chakravarthy disposed of a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) seeking directions to every employer in Tamil Nadu to demand proof from employees of having voted on polling day, to ensure that employees had indeed used their day off from work for casting their votes..The PIL filed by lawyer B Ramkumar Adityan had claimed that while most establishments in the State remain shut on polling day, employees use the day for leisure instead of going to the polling stations to cast their vote. Adityan had demanded that after the upcoming 2024 Lok Sabha elections, all employers must ask their employees to show their voting slips, or other proof..The High Court, however, said that the PIL raised a “fanciful issue,” and no law existed that enabled it to pass such an order.It further said that no one could compel a person to vote if they chose not to exercise such a “valuable right despite availing of a paid holiday on polling day under Section 135B of the Representation of the People Act, 1951.”.“How can anyone compel a person to vote? It is their duty but they are not bound by any law to compulsorily cast their votes,” the High Court said.