The Madras High Court observed that casting vote is the Cornerstone of the democracy and any hinderance to that will lead violation of the Rights which a person possesses. The Employer should take all the possible measures through which employees can cast their vote.
“The Court appeals to all employers to make it possible for their employees to cast their vote on Election Day, even if it entails a degree of inconvenience to the employers.”
The above observation was made by the Division bench of Madras High Court, comprising of Chief Justice Sanjib Banerjee and Justice Senthilkumar Ramamoorthy while dealing with the Petition filed under Article 226 of the Constitution of India for issuance of a Writ of Mandamus directing the respondents to strictly implement Section 135B of the representation of the People Act, 1951, in respect of labourers working in the unorganized sector in the election that is going to be held on 6.4.2021 for Tamil Nadu Legislative State Assembly and bye-Election to Kanniyyakumari Constituency.
Factual Background
The petitioner had pointed out that Section 135B of the Representation of the People Act, 1951 entails that Election Day would be considered as paid leave day and no one can deny that. But in reality, the adverse results had been seen. The exceptions provided in sub section 4 also taken them as excuse. Therefore, this petition was filed before this Court.
Court Reasoning & Judgment
The Court suggested State Government and Election Commission to take appropriate measures through notifications as:
“Both the State Government and the Election Commission should publish appropriate notifications to make the employees aware of their rights so that the employees may assert themselves and take appropriate steps to exercise their franchise” and directed Election Commission to dispose the complaints pertaining to the above mentioned issues and if found credible, the complaints may result in criminal proceedings being instituted.
The Court held that:
“every citizen has equal rights. However, not all citizens have the opportunities to exercise such rights in equal measure. At least on the date of election, the fraternal spirit that the Constitution espouses should prompt every citizen to make it possible for every other citizen to also participate in the celebration of democracy.”
Hence, the Bench disposed off the petition and no cost was imposed on it.
Case Details
Case: W.P.No.7720 of 2021
Petitioner: M.Ahamed Shahjahan @ M.A.Shahjahan
Respondent: Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) and Principal Secretary to Government State of Tamil Nadu
Counsels for the Petitioner: Mr.V.R.Thangavel
Counsels for the Respondent: Mr.Niranjan Rajagopalan
Quorum: Chief Justice Sanjib Banerjee and Justice Senthilkumar Ramamoorthy
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