The decision on whether Anil Deshmukh and Nawab Malik will be able to vote in the Rajya Sabha elections will be taken tomorrow. Voting for the six Rajya Sabha seats will be held on Friday and an application has been filed in the court seeking permission for the same. Anil Deshmukh and Nawab Malik are both in ED's custody.
Arguments were made in the Mumbai Sessions Court today. Deshmukh and Malik have argued that an elected MLA has the right to vote. The ED has strongly opposed the petition of the two. The ED has claimed in court that prisoners do not have the right to vote. Now the Sessions Court has reserved its judgment and tomorrow Judge Rahul Rokade will give his verdict in the first session.
Shiv Sena and BJP are vying for the sixth seat in the Rajya Sabha elections. MVA, along with the BJP, will have to rely on other parties, including its MLAs, for the June 10 polls. Former Home Minister Anil Deshmukh of MVA is in jail for financial misconduct while Nawab Malik is currently in jail for money laundering. Mahavikas Aghadi is trying to get them to vote in this by-election. Therefore, Anil Deshmukh and Nawab Malik have applied to the court to allow them to vote.
Explaining that prisoners do not have the right to vote, the ED has opposed the application of Anil Deshmukh and Nawab Malik for permission to vote. This is a formal right under Oath 62 of the Representation of the People Act 1951, so it cannot be a fundamental right. Therefore, the two MLAs, who are currently in judicial custody, should not be allowed to do so, the ED said in its reply filed in the court.