LexTHE CHIEF ELECTION COMMISSIONER ETC. versus JAN CHAUKIDAR (PEOPLES WATCH) & ORS
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(2013] 10 S.C.R. 1163 THE CHIEF ELECTION COMMISSIONER ETC. v. JAN CHAUKIDAR (PEOPLES WATCH) & ORS. (CIVIL APPEAL NOS. 3040-3041 OF 2004) JULY 10, 2013 [A.K. PATNAIK AND SUDHANSU JYOTI MUKHOPADHAYA, JJ.] A B Representation of the People Act, 1951 - ss.4, 5 and 62 C - Qualification to contest election - Person having no right to vote by virtue of the provisions of sub-section (5) of s. 62 of the 1951 Act - Held: Is not an elector and is therefore not qualified to contest the election to the House of the People or the Legislative Assembly of a State - Representation of D the People Act, 1950 - s. 16 - Constitution of India, 1950 - Article 326. CIVIL APPELLATE JURISDICTION : Civil Appeal Nos.· 3040-3041 of 2004. E From the Judgment and Order dated 30.04.2004 of the High Court of Judicature at Patna in C.W.J.C. No. 4880 & 4988 of 2004. · Paras Kuhad Siddharth Luthra, ASG, F.S. Nariman, Harish Chander, Ml.J_~UI Gupta, Subhash Sharma, Lily Thomas F (Petitioner-ln~Person), Meenakshi Arora, Amit Pawan, Rajiv Kumar Sinha, S. Chandra Shekhar, Satya Narain, Shukla (Petitioner-In-Person), Saurabh Suman Sinha, Shilpa Singh, Kamini Jaiswal, Abhimanue Shrestha, Amit Kumar, Abhinav Mukerji, Tufail A. Khan, Mrinmayee Shau, Yatin Bhushan, S.V. G Balaram Deis, Angad Kochhar. V.K. Biju, Satya Siddiqui, Sarfraz Ahmed Siddiqui, S.K. Mishra, S.S. Rawat, V.N. Subramaniam, S. Wasim A. Qadri, P. Parmeswaran, D.S. Mahra, S. Ahmed Siddiqui, Priyanka, V.N. Raghupathi, Vasan 1163 H 1164 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2013) 10 S.C.R. A Anantharaman, Sibo Sankar Mishra, Vijaya Lakshmi, Pragya Singh, Saurabh Kumar, Abhisth Kumar, Vikrant Yadav, Raman Yadav, lrshad Ahmad, Mohd. lrshad Hanif, Anil Kumar Jha for the appearing parties. B The Order of the Court was delivered by ORDER 1. These are appeals by way of Special Leave under Article 136 of the Constitution against the common order dated C 30.04.2004 of the Patna High Court in C.W.J.C. No.4880 of 2004 and C.W.J.C. No.4988 of 2004. 2. The facts very briefly are that Article 326 of the Constitution provides that the elections to the House of the People and to the Legislative Assembly of every State shall be D on the basis of adult suffrage and every person who is a citizen of India and who is not less than eighteen years of age on such date as may be fixed in that behalf by or under any law made by the appropriate Legislature and is not otherwise disqualified under the Constitution or any law made by the appropriate E Legislature on the grounds of non-residence, unsoundness of mind, crime or corrupt or illegal practice, shall be entitled to be registered as a voter for any such election. In accordance with Article 326 of the Constitution, Parliament has enacted the Representation of the People Act, 1950 (for short 'the 1950 Act') F for registration of voters at such elections to the House of the People and to the Legislative Assembly of every State and has also enacted the Representation of the People Act, 1951 (for short 'the 1951 Act') for the conduct of elections to the Houses of Parliament and to the Houses of Legislature of each State. G 3. The word "elector" is defined in the 1951 Act in relation to the constituency to mean a person whose name is entered in electoral rolls of the constituency for the time being in force and who is not subject to any of the disqualifications mentioned H in Section 16 of the 1950 Act. Section 16(1)(c) of the 1950 THE CHIEF ELECTION COMMISSIONER ETC. v. JAN1165 CHAUKIDAR (PEOPLES WATCH) & ORS. Act provides that a person shall be disqualified for registration A in an electoral roll if he is for the time being disqualified from voting under the provisions of any law relating to corrupt practices and other offences in connection with elections. 4. Section 4 of the 1951 Act lays down the qualifications B for membership of the House of the People and one of the qualifications laid down is that he must be an "elector" for any Parliamentary constituency. Similarly, Section 5 of the 1951 Act lays down the qualifications for membership of a Legislative Assembly of a State and one of the qualifications laid down is C that he must be an "elector" for any Assembly constituency in that State. Section 62 of the 1951 Act is titled "Right to vote" and it provides in sub-section (5) that no person shall vote at any election if he is confined in a prison, whether under a sentence of imprisonme
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