Seeking votes on religious basis a corrupt act: Supreme Court

• The bench was interpreting section 123(3) of the Representation of Peoples Act.

Court’s ruling:

• The Supreme Court has ruled that an election could be annulled if candidates seek votes in the name of their religion or that of their voters. The apex court’s view has enlarged the scope of the Representation of People Act 1951.
• The Court ruled that “religion, race, caste, community or language would not be allowed to play any role in the electoral process” and that election of a candidate would be declared null and void if an appeal is made to seek votes on these considerations.
• The state being secular in character will not identify itself with any one of the religions or religious denominations. This necessarily implies that religion will not play any role in the governance of the country which must at all times be secular in nature. Election is a secular exercise just as the functions of the elected representatives must be secular in both outlook and practice.
• Seeking vote in the name of religion by the candidate will be dealt under Section 123(3) of the Representation of People's Act. 
• Use of creed, language or community as a tool for seeking vote in election is explicitly prohibited.

Background:

• The case reached the apex court after there were claims that several candidates elected in the 1992 Maharashtra assembly polls had appealed to voters on religious grounds. Similar cases were also brought before the apex court in 1996. However, that bench decided to refer the case to a larger bench. The five-judge bench set up in 2014, in turn referred it to a seven-judge bench.

Analysis:

• The ruling can potentially overturn the rules of the game for electoral politics in India, where traditionally parties have not hesitated to employ religion, caste and ethnicity to woo voters. Greater clarity will emerge once the Election Commission, which is to implement the decision, spells out the ground rules.
• The latest ruling is now significant in the sense that any attempt to canvass for votes on the ground of religion or other such parochial identities – either of the candidates’s or on behalf of his agents or groups or his opponents – would invite the provisions of the Representation of People Act.
• However, discussion on caste, creed, and religion is constitutionally protected within and outside elections and this cannot be restricted. It is a matter of free speech and through this legitimate concerns of the society are addressed. 

By: Vishal