SC Judge calls denial of voting rights arbitrary:Says no excuse can justify it, citizen without vote is meaningless

Supreme Court judge Justice Ujjal Bhuyan said any process that deprives millions of Indian citizens of their right to vote would be arbitrary and contrary to the constitutional system. He said no justification could make such a process acceptable. Justice Bhuyan made the remarks while speaking at an event organised by NALSAR University of Law in Hyderabad on Sunday. He did not refer to any specific process or authority during his speech. ‘Constitution does not create 2 classes of citizens’ Justice Bhuyan said the Constitution does not allow a system in which one group of citizens has the right to vote while another is deprived of it. He said any process that denies voting rights to Indian citizens on a large scale would violate Articles 326 and 14 of the Constitution. According to Justice Bhuyan, if a process turns millions of Indians into “second-class citizens” in their own country by taking away their right to vote, it would be inherently arbitrary. He also said such a process would strike at the foundation of the Constitution and amount to rejecting the constitutional system adopted by India. ‘No authority is above the Constitution’ Justice Bhuyan said no institution or authority could claim exemption from constitutional principles. He said no authority could deprive citizens of their voting rights in such a manner and that no court could condone such an action. “No one is above the Constitution,” he said. ‘Billionaire or rickshaw driver, every vote has equal value’ Justice Bhuyan linked the right to vote with India’s long struggle against foreign rule, calling it an expression of freedom. He said Article 326, which deals with elections based on adult suffrage, could not be altered in a manner that undermines citizens’ voting rights. Explaining the principle of political equality, he said one person could be a billionaire while another could be a rickshaw driver, but both would have the same voting power. “One person may be a billionaire and another may be a rickshaw driver; yet both will have their votes, and the value of their votes will be equal,” he said. ‘What is the value of a citizen without right to vote?’ Justice Bhuyan also referred to US Supreme Court Justice Felix Frankfurter’s observation that the highest office in a democracy is that of a citizen. He then posed a question: “What is the value of a citizen without the right to vote?” ​