The Supreme Court has refused to entertain a Writ Petition seeking voting facilities for around 18,000 people displaced internally due to the ethnic strife in Manipur for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections scheduled to take place on April 19 and 26.

Two individuals and an organization called the Manipur Tribal Forum have moved the Court under Article 32 of the Constitution, seeking a direction to the Election Commission of India (ECI) to make arrangements to enable “internally displaced persons” settled outside the State of Manipur to cast their votes at the ensuing General Elections to the Lok Sabha in 2024 by setting up special polling booths in the States where such persons are presently residing.

The Bench of Chief Justice DY Chandrachud, Justice JB Pardiwala, and Justice Manoj Misra emphasized that with a short span of three days left for the first round of voting, which includes the Lok Sabha constituencies in the State of Manipur, the course of action that the Petitioners claim would be entirely 'impracticable'.

"Moreover, the claim of the petitioners, however bona fide, does raise broader issues of policy bearing on the conduct of the elections, something over which the ECI is constitutionally vested with control and supervision under Article 324 of the Constitution," the Bench further said.

Advocate Hetvi Patel, on behalf of the Petitioner, submitted that a similar arrangement had been made by the ECI in the case of Kashmiri migrants to vote in-person at “transitory camps”. He also submitted that on a parity of Application, ECI should be directed to make the same arrangements for ‘internally displaced persons’ from the State of Manipur.

Patel also submitted that on February 29, 2024, ECI notified a scheme for voting by the internally displaced persons of Manipur in relief camps at the ensuing General Elections. However, it has been urged that this is confined only to voting at the relief camps within the State of Manipur and would not cover other displaced persons who are residing outside the State.

On the contrary, Advocate Ankit Agarwal, appearing for the ECI, contended that, besides the bar under Article 329 of the Constitution, it is too late in the day for the ECI to even consider making arrangements of the nature sought by the Petitioners. He contended that the polling for Lok Sabha constituencies in the State of Manipur is due to take place on April 19 and 26, 2024.

The Counsel urged that the Petitioners were aware of the scheme notified by it for voting at the transit camps in Manipur. He argued that though the scheme was notified on 29 February 2024, the Petition has been filed almost on the verge of the ensuing General Elections. Agarwal further submitted, that in the case of Jammu and Kashmir, certain provisions were in existence under the Jammu and Kashmir Representation of the People Act 1957 and the Jammu and Kashmir Conduct of Election Rules 1965 and, when the reorganization of the State took place, the earlier provisions were extended by the ECI.

"The petitioners have furnished in a tabulated statement, which is extracted in the earlier part of the order, a chart indicating that there are about 17,725 persons who have been displaced as a result of the violence which took place in the State of Manipur after 3 May 2023. Even according to the petitioners, they are situated in the NCR, Mizoram, Guwahati, Kolkata, Shillong, Kohima, Hyderabad, Bangalore and Mumbai. The authenticity of the contents of the statement has not been verified. Hence, the grant of relief cannot be confined only to the areas which are tabulated in the petition under Article 32 of the Constitution," the Court noted.

On the contention of the Petitioners wherein they relied upon the arrangements which were made in relation to Jammu and Kashmir, the Bench said, "We find from the notification of the ECI dated 22 March 2024 that right since the elections to the State Legislative Assembly in 1996, a special scheme was devised under the Jammu and Kashmir Representation of the People Act 1957, which enabled migrant voters to vote by postal ballot for the constituencies in the places where they were registered as voters."

Consequently, the Bench ordered, "We have come to the conclusion that the interference of this Court, particularly at this belated stage, would cause substantial impediments in the conduct of the ensuing General Elections for the Lok Sabha constituencies in the State of Manipur. We are, therefore, not inclined to issue any such directions as sought, for the reasons which we have indicated in the earlier part of the Order."

Accordingly, the Petition was disposed of.

"For these internally displaced persons (IDPs) no arrangement has been made for them to vote in the forthcoming Lok Sabha Elections 2024. Hence approximately 18,000 persons have been denied the right to vote ... In the absence of such voting facility to the IDPs, many tribal voters are not able to exercise their franchise, not because they do not want to vote but because they have been DENIED of the opportunity to Vote," the Writ Petition stated.

"Most of the IDPs scattered outside of Manipur are making symbiotic living in at-least 6 districts within the state of Mizoram, Delhi and NCR, and hundreds of IDPs are earning their living by doing odd jobs in Mumbai, Kolkata, Bengaluru, Guwahati, Shillong, Kohima and Hyderabad," the plea added.

Cause Title: Naulak Khamsuanthang & Ors. v. Election Commission of India & Ors.

Appearance:-

Petitioner: Advocates Hetvi Patel, Kamae Kaoliangpou, Satya Mitra (AOR)

Respondent: Advocates Lenin Hijam [Adv. Gen. (Manipur)], Pukhrambam Ramesh Kumar, Manisha Chava, Karun Sharma, Rajkumari Divyasana, Abhijeet Singh, Anupriya Srivastava

Click here to read/download the Order


Justice JB PardiwalaJustice Manoj MisraManipurChief Justice DY Chandrachud

Sukriti Mishra