Overview

• A bench of CJI B. R. Gavai and Justice K. Vinod Chandran issued notice to the Union government and the Election Commission of India on the petition.
• The PIL by Sunita Sharma, argued by Prashant Bhushan, contests the blanket bar under Section 62(5) of the Representation of the People Act, 1951 on anyone confined in prison voting.
• The petition urges in-prison polling for local electors and postal ballots for prisoners held outside their constituencies, excluding only those convicted of electoral or corruption offences.
• The plea cites roughly 4.5 lakh pre-trial, undertrial, and non-finally convicted prisoners and emphasizes the presumption of innocence, with about three-quarters of inmates classified as undertrials.
• Relying on a 2023 Constitution Bench view that the right to vote is constitutional, the petition seeks reconsideration of a 1997 precedent upholding the current ban, with the case listed for hearing in four weeks.