Why in News? Amritpal Singh, jailed head of pro-Khalistan outfit Waris Punjab de, announced his intention to contest ongoing Lok Sabha elections from Punjab’s Khadoor Sahib seat.

Legal Status of Right to Vote and Right to be Elected-Though free and fair elections are placed on highest constitutional pedestal, Supreme Court (SC) in Kuldip Nayar v. Union of India (2006) held that rights to elect and be elected do not enjoy same status. They are “pure and simple statutory rights” and not fundamental rights. Thus, they can be repealed.

Bar Against Contesting Elections- Section 8 of Representation of People Act (RPA), 1951 provides for disqualification from contesting elections to Parliament or State Legislatures from the date of conviction onwards and face further a six-year disqualification from contesting in elections beginning from the date of their release. But disqualification only kicks in on conviction and not on being charged with criminal offences.

Exceptions to Disqualification- ECI can “remove” or “reduce” the disqualification period under Section 11 of RPA; Disqualified MPs or MLAs can contest elections if their conviction is stayed by a High Court on filing an appeal.

Bar Against Right to Vote for Confined Persons (Section62(5) of RPA)- No person can vote at any election when in prison, whether under a sentence or transportation or in lawful custody of police except for the ones in preventive detention, unless they have been released on bail or have been acquitted. In 1997, SC rejected a challenge to Section 62(5) on four grounds- right to vote was a statutory right and is subject to statutory limitations; there is resource crunch in terms of infrastructure and deployment of police personnel; an imprisoned person cannot claim equal freedom of movement, speech and expression; persons with criminal background should be kept away from elections.