Supreme Court bans use of religion in election

Politicians are barred from seeking votes in the name of religion, caste or creed the Supreme Court ruled on Jan 2 in a landmark judgment, ahead of crucial assembly polls in five states.

Jan 06, 2017

NEW DELHI: Politicians are barred from seeking votes in the name of religion, caste or creed the Supreme Court ruled on Jan 2 in a landmark judgment, ahead of crucial assembly polls in five states.

The court also ruled that seeking votes in this manner will be deemed a corrupt practice and not permissible.

The court’s bench said by a 4:3 majority that elections are a secular exercise and that the relationship between people and whom they worship is an individual choice. Therefore, the state is forbidden to interfere in such an activity, the court said.

A seven-judge constitution bench passed the judgement in the Hindutva case after hearing arguments from various petitioners/respondents.

The top court was examining a politically explosive question arising out of a plea filed in 1990.

That question — Will a religious leader’s appeal to his followers to vote for a particular political party amount to electoral malpractice under Section 123 of the Representation of People Act?

The court gave a wider meaning to Section 123 of the Representation of People Act to stamp out the use of religion and community affiliation from elections, The Times of India reported.

Chief Justice T S Thakur, justices M B Lokur, S A Bobde and L N Rao favoured rooting out religion from election, while Justices A K Goel, U U Lalit and D Y Chandrachud were in a minority on the issue. -- Matters India

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