Need not record votes of mentally challenged persons digitally: Kerala HC

KOCHI: The Kerala High Court has dismissed a petition seeking a directive that the votes of persons with mental disabilities be recorded digitally on a separate electronic voting machine while they cast their votes in the 2025 general election. Justice P V Kunhikrishnan said that the persons with mental illness or persons with intellectual disabilities are also citizens of this country, and they are our brothers and sisters. We should hold them close to our hearts and not insult them by treating them as a separate class. The court issued the order on a petition filed by Jomon Jacob and Thomas Palliyil, of Pala. According to the petitioners, voters who are currently in a rehabilitation centre for persons with mental disabilities are unable to cast their votes according to their will, and therefore, their votes are to be kept in a separate electronic voting machine and recorded digitally while they cast their votes in the ensuing general election of 2025. They alleged that around 60 voters were included in the list of the Pala municipality. They are residents of Mariya Sadhanam, a rehabilitation centre for persons with mental challenges. The court observed that no documents were produced to show that they are mentally challenged or have a mental illness. They are not even a party in this writ petition, at least in a representative capacity. Section 74(1)(b) of the Kerala Municipality Act says that a person shall be disqualified for registration in an electoral roll if he is of unsound mind and stands so declared by a competent court. There is absolutely no case to the petitioners that the voters in the list are persons of unsound mind and stand so declared by a competent court. The court added that in a democratic process, it is necessary that ineligible persons are not included in the electoral roll. That does not mean that anyone can declare a person to be of unsound mind and approach the High Court seeking to exclude them from the regular voters list and to place them in a separate class, allowing them to vote on a separate electronic voting machine.