Civil Death of Prisoner Disenfranchising the Prisoner in Reality Causes his Civil Death

This paper attempts to look at the issue of disenfranchisement of prisoners in India, that is the denial of right to vote to prisoners. A right to vote in any democratic nation is not granted to everyone. The author begins the discussion by looking at some of the most common conditions for eligibility of individuals to exercise the right to vote. She then undertakes a comparative analysis of the position of prisoners' right to vote in under the British, American, Canadian and Australian law. Under the Indian laws, the author states, Section 62(5) of the Representation of People's Act, 1957 debars an imprisoned individual from holding voting rights. The author assesses the Supreme Court ruling which have upheld the validity of this provision and considers whether such a policy of restricting a constitutional right satisfies the reasonability and legimitate objective tests.