Govt to table Bill in Parl to allow NRIs to vote

New Delhi : A bill to amend the electoral law to allow Non-Resident Indians (NRIs) to vote through postal or e-ballots would be introduced in the upcoming winter session of Parliament, the Centre today informed the Supreme Court.

A bench of Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justices A M Khanwilkar and D Y Chandrachud considered the submission of the Centre and acceded to its request that the hearing on petitions seeking voting rights for NRIs, be adjourned. Lawyer P K Dey, appearing for the Centre, sought adjournment for six months on the ground that the Bill would be tabled in the Winter Session. However, the bench deferred the hearing by 12 weeks.

On July 21, Attorney General K K Venugopal had told the court that NRIs could not be allowed to vote by merely changing the rules made under the Representation of People (RP) Act.

The court had on July 14 asked Centre to decide whether it would amend the electoral law or rules to allow NRIs to vote by postal or e-ballots in the polls in the country, taking note of the fact that the Centre and the Election Commission of India were agreeable to the report of a panel that NRIs might be allowed to vote. –PTI