The name of Azam Khan, a prominent name in the Samajwadi Party of Uttar Pradesh, has been deleted from the voter list in Rampur.
On the basis of a complaint filed by BJP by-poll candidate Akash Saxena, the Rampur Electoral Registration Officer (ERO) decided to delete Azam Khan’s name from the electoral record.
The BJP filed an appeal to have Azam Khan’s name removed from the electoral roll, invoking provisions of the Representation of the People Acts (RPA) of 1950 and 1951.
RPA lays procedure for the preparation of electoral rolls as well as the qualification of voters and the manner of filling seats
The Civil Courts have also been banned from challenging the legitimacy of any ERO action relating to electoral roll alteration.
If a person is imprisoned, whether under a sentence of imprisonment or transportation, he is not eligible to vote; but, in the case of preventive custody, he is eligible to vote as per the RPA.
The ECI stated in 2014 that people in preventive custody had the right to vote, but not under-trials or convicted.
However, the Act allows inmates serving sentences of less than two years to contest elections from prison.
Azam Khan, the Rampur MLA, was disqualified after being convicted in a hate speech case last month. He was sentenced to three years in prison in this case.
The Rampur Sadar Assembly seat was declared vacant following his disqualification as an MLA.
Azam Khan petitioned the Supreme Court to overturn his removal from the state assembly following his conviction and three-year prison sentence in a hate speech case.
The Supreme Court ordered a sessions court in Rampur, Uttar Pradesh, to hear Samajwadi Party leader Azam Khan’s appeal. However, the sessions court denied Azam Khan’s appeal last week, clearing the way for a byelection in his assembly constituency.
Meanwhile, the Election Commission has issued a notification for the Rampur byelections.
