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Home » India » Now candidates can’t seek votes in the name of religion, caste, rules Supreme Court

Now candidates can’t seek votes in the name of religion, caste, rules Supreme Court

By Newsd
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In a landmark decision ahead of essential assembly polls in five states where caste and faith play a major role in politics, the Supreme Court on Monday forbidden contenders from seeking votes in the name of religion, caste, race, community or language.

Led by Chief Justice of India TS Thakur, a seven-judge SC bench said the secular idea of the Constitution had to be maintained by keeping elections a secular exercise. “The relationship between man and god is an individual choice. The state is forbidden to have allegiance to such an activity,” said the bench.

However, three of the seven judges does not agree to the idea and said any such decision would diminish democracy to an abstraction. But then, the court held that the function of a designated representative should be secular.

“Religion has no role in an electoral process, which is a secular activity,” added the judges. “Mixing state with religion is not constitutionally permissible,” it said.

The ruling will have noteworthy implications in states that will go to the polls in next few months, especially in Uttar Pradesh. While in UP, the construction of a Ram Temple in Ayodhya and caste-based mobilization play a key role in an election, in Punjab too, religion and sacrilege are major campaign issues.

“No government is perfect. The law doesn’t prohibit dialogue or discussion of a matter which is concern to the voters,” said the dissenters.

The verdict came as the court was revisiting a two-decade old judgment that called Hinduism a “way of life.” The ruling further had said that a contender was not affected prejudicially if votes were sought on this plank. But a number of petitions filed over the years have challenged the decision.

The question that surfaced before the SC was whether seeking votes in the name of faith was a corrupt practice constitutionally, and candidates who indulge in such practice should be banned.

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