NRI vote: Centre to introduce Bill to amend Representation of the People Act 

The Centre Friday told the Supreme Court that it was planning to introduce a Bill amending the Representation of the People Act (Representational Image)

The Centre Friday told the Supreme Court that it was planning to introduce a Bill amending the Representation of the People Act to allow proxy voting rights to Non-Resident Indians (NRIs) in the forthcoming winter session of Parliament. This was conveyed to a bench of Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra and Justices A M Khanwilkar and D Y Chandrachud by the Centre’s counsel P K Dey during the hearing of a petition seeking voting rights for NRIs. Though the Centre sought six months time, the bench deferred the hearing by 12 weeks.

On July 21, Attorney General K K Venugopal had told the court that a Bill was needed to be introduced in Parliament to amend the Act to grant the voting rights and that merely changing rules made under the Act would not suffice.

The court had on July 14 asked the 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, 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. The poll panel had said the move to allow NRIs to use proxy voting would require changes either in the Representation of the People Act or in the rules made under the Act.