Mumbai: As the battle for six Rajya Sabha seats continues today, there is uncertainty over the voting of NCP leader and minister Nawab Malik and former home minister Anil Deshmukh. The two leaders had approached the Mumbai High Court on Thursday after a special PMLA court rejected their pleas, saying they had no right to vote in the Rajya Sabha elections while in legal custody as raw prisoners. Against this backdrop, Nawab Malik’s petition was heard today and senior advocate Amit Desai argued in Malik’s favor. Justice Prakash Naik has not given any immediate relief to Minister Nawab Malik regarding his vote in the Rajya Sabha elections. However, the petition has been amended and permission has been granted to go to the appropriate court.
While one vote is important in the Rajya Sabha elections, the failure of the court to give immediate relief to Nawab Malik’s vote has added to the difficulties of the Mahavikas front. Malik will now have to go back to court after amending his petition.
“We have not come for bail. We have come to request that the petitioner be kept in judicial custody and released only for a few hours. The High Court may make such order in its special powers under Article 226 of the Constitution. The High Court also has the power to grant bail in exceptional circumstances and privileges, but we have come to the High Court not on bail but on the constitutional right to vote as a representative of the people and fulfillment of my duty, argued Amit Desai on behalf of Malik.
What did the court say?
A petition was filed on behalf of Nawab Malik seeking release on personal bail bond for a few hours and entry to the Vidhan Bhavan under police protection. However, “ordering release on personal bail is tantamount to release on bail and for that you have to go to the appropriate court,” said Justice Prakash Naik. “Right now, we are asking for permission to send people to the Legislative Assembly to cast their votes, not on personal guarantee, but under police protection,” he said. Therefore, our petition should be allowed to be amended immediately in the court itself, ‘requested senior advocate Amit Desai on behalf of Malik. After that, Justice Prakash Naik granted the request for amendment. Therefore, after the urgent amendment of the petition, Malik’s petition is likely to be heard in another court at 1.30 pm.
Meanwhile, there is uncertainty over whether former Home Minister Anil Deshmukh’s criminal writ petition will be heard.
PMLA pushes court
“The Rajya Sabha elections are a political process and the court should allow police security to enter the Vidhan Bhavan for a few hours under its prerogative to exercise its voting duty as a representative of our constituency,” Malik and Deshmukh had requested in their application to the PMLA court. However, his application was strongly opposed by the Directorate of Enforcement, arguing that a prisoner serving a sentence under Section 62 (5) of the Representation of the People Act or a prisoner in legal custody has no right to vote in any election. Judge Rahul Rokade on Thursday afternoon rejected the pleas of both the parties, saying that Deshmukh and Malik did not have the right to vote on the basis of the Supreme Court’s ruling in this regard.
On the other hand, Adv. Through Kushal Mor, Deshmukh, Adv. Aniket Nikam immediately filed a writ petition in the High Court. “As voting is on Friday (today), the petition should be heard immediately,” said Adv. Justice Tarak Syed Prakash Naik. The petitioners will have to be released on bail if they want to vote and the court hearing the case is different. However, we will hold a hearing tomorrow morning and give the appropriate order. It was given by Naik.
‘Voting is our right and duty’
“As a private citizen, our petition does not say that you have a personal right to vote. Being elected in the Assembly elections, we are representing millions of voters in our constituency. We are representing the constituency under Article 80 (4) of the Constitution and it is our constitutional right to vote for the Rajya Sabha as an MLA. It is also our constitutional duty. However, the PMLA court, without considering the matter, misinterpreted the section of the Representation of the People Act and issued the wrong order, ‘Malik and Deshmukh had argued in the petition.
