https://www.taxtmi.com/caselaws?id=238699 The article examines the constitutional status of voting and abstention in elections. It explains that the right to vote is statutory, but the act of voting, including the choice not to vote, is protected as a facet of freedom of expression under Article 19(1)(a), supporting recourse under Article 32 where secrecy is affected. It further states that secrecy of ballot is integral to free and fair constituency elections, and that Rules 41(2) and (3) and 49-O were unconstitutional to the extent they required disclosure of an elector's decision not to cast a vote. The discussion also notes approval of a neutral NOTA option to preserve secrecy while recognising the right not to vote. en-us Fri, 27 Sep 2013 00:00:00 +0530 Tue, 07 Jan 2025 18:34:00 +0530 TaxTMI RSS Generator https://www.taxtmi.com/caselaws?id=238699 The article examines the constitutional status of voting and abstention in elections. It explains that the right to vote is statutory, but the act of voting, including the choice not to vote, is protected as a facet of freedom of expression under Article 19(1)(a), supporting recourse under Article 32 where secrecy is affected. It further states that secrecy of ballot is integral to free and fair constituency elections, and that Rules 41(2) and (3) and 49-O were unconstitutional to the extent they required disclosure of an elector's decision not to cast a vote. The discussion also notes approval of a neutral NOTA option to preserve secrecy while recognising the right not to vote. Case-Laws Indian Laws Fri, 27 Sep 2013 00:00:00 +0530 https://www.taxtmi.com/caselaws?id=238699