Effectively, the Muslim vote in India was being negated, and this was slowly being reflected in the overall representation of Muslims in elected office across the Lok Sabha and Assembly Seats. | Photo courtesy: Daily Mail.

SC directs Election Commission to pass orders on petition seeking advance of polling hours in large parts of north and central India

[dropcap]A[/dropcap] three-judge bench of the Supreme Court, comprising Chief Justice of India (CJI) Ranjan Gogoi, Justices Deepak Gupta and Sanjiv Khanna today directed the Election Commission of India (ECI) to pass appropriate and necessary order on a batch of representations filed with the ECI to extend polling hours during the 5th, 6th and 7th phases of the ongoing general elections on May 6, 2019, May 12, 2019 and May 19, 2019, respectively, by 2 – 2.5 hours to commence the process at 4:30/5:00 AM (instead of the notified time of 7:00 AM) on account of unprecedented heat wave conditions in several parts of the country and the onset of Ramzaan.

Petitioners Mohammad Nizamuddin Pasha and Asad Hayat who are also practising advocates had approached the Supreme Court to ensure a healthy voter turnout in the electoral process, particularly of the Muslim community, so that the outcome of the general elections would be truly representative.

Senior advocate Meenakshi Arora had mentioned the petition today before the CJI Gogoi who proceeded to issue the direction to the ECI to take an appropriate decision in the matter forthwith.

Ramzaan, the holy month of fasting for Muslims, is likely to commence on May 6, 2019 (or May 7, 2019, if the moon is not sighted on May 5, 2019). During this month, a large percentage of the voting population, i.e. adult Muslims, both men and women, young and old alike will be fasting and will not be consuming food or water approximately 1.5 hours before dawn till dusk every day, the petitioners said.

They also said that  over the last week, and more particularly on April 30, 2019, the Indian Meteorological Department, Ministry of Earth Sciences, Government of India has issued a warning indicating severe heatwave conditions over the next few days in large parts of India with temperatures going up to five degree Celsius above normal in Madhya Pradesh, eastern Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Haryana, Delhi, Chandigarh, Jharkhand, Rajasthan and Himachal Pradesh. Several constituencies in each of these states are going to polls in the 5th, 6th and 7th phases of the general elections in the coming days.

In this intense heat, it will be very difficult for Muslim voters to queue up at the polling booths during the day in the intense heat to exercise their franchise. During Ramzaan, most practising Muslims stay up late and wake up for an early morning meal called Sehri and sleep after the morning Fajr prayer. Thereafter, they avoid going out in the heat as much as possible to avoid thirst, dehydration and the possibility of heatstroke.

Therefore, in the present weather conditions, a lot of Muslim will be unable to go out to exercise their franchise once the day’s heat commences. Advancing the polling hours in these three phases by 2 – 2.5 hours to 4:30/5:00 AM (instead of the notified time of 7:00 AM) will allow Muslim voters to cast their votes immediately after the morning (Fajr) prayers and return home before the heat intensifies, petitioners said.

In addition, petitioners submitted that on April 29, 2019, a representation was made to the ECI bringing the aforesaid facts to its notice and requesting it to extend the polling hours. However, the ECI did not respond to the representation.

 

Read Petition here:

[pdfviewer]https://cdn.theleaflet.in/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/02144524/PIL-Ramzan-Polling-Hours.pdf[/pdfviewer]