‘Please grant bail to help cast vote’: Pleas flood Odisha courts | India News

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BHUBANESWAR: This election season, most bail purposes moved in a number of decrease courts in Odisha have a standard, but uncommon prayer from undertrial prisoners – “My Lord, my shopper might kindly be thought of for bail to allow him to forged his vote“.
Although the variety of such petitions and whether or not bail was granted on the bottom aren’t recognized, authorized consultants mentioned they got here throughout this pattern for the primary time.The state votes in simultaneous Lok Sabha and meeting polls in 4 phases from Could 13 to June 1.
In response to human rights campaigner and lawyer Biswapriya Kanungo, there have been some latest situations of UTPs interesting to completely different courts.
Beneath Part 62(5) of Illustration of the Individuals Act, 1951, folks in police custody and people serving a sentence of imprisonment after conviction can not vote. Undertrial prisoners too are prohibited from taking part in elections even when their names are on the electoral rolls.
Going by the principles, a minimum of 17,500 prisoners, together with 13,800 UTPs (78 per cent ) couldn’t forged their votes in 2019 elections. At present, 18,565 prisoners, together with 15,200 (82 per cent ) UTPs, are lodged in 87 jails throughout Odisha.
“If a convicted politician can contest elections after getting his or her conviction stayed by a court docket, why cannot UTPs, who shouldn’t be known as convicts till they’re confirmed responsible, vote? A legislation ought to come to permit such prisoners to forged their votes,” mentioned Kanungo.



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