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Court was hearing a PIL filed by V. Ram Kumar, a former loco pilot now serving as Chief Office Superintendent in the Madurai Division of Southern Railway
The Madras High Court on Friday directed the General Manager of Southern Railway to provide an explanation regarding the failure to request the Election Commission of India (ECI) to extend postal ballot facilities to all railway employees in Tamil Nadu.
The division bench comprising Chief Justice Sanjay V. Gangapurwala and Justice J. Sathya Narayana Prasad issued notice in a public interest litigation petition filed by V. Ram Kumar.
According to ECI counsel Niranjan Rajagopalan, the commission had reached out to the railway department on February 16, 2024, regarding the facility of postal ballot to its employees and had set a deadline of March 25, 2024, for a response. As no reply was received by the deadline, the extension of postal ballot facilities to railway employees in Tamil Nadu could not be executed.
Advocate R. Venkatesan, representing the petitioner, highlighted that his client, a former loco pilot now serving as Chief Office Superintendent in the Madurai Division of Southern Railway, along with many other railway employees, will face difficulties in voting during the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. He argued that denying postal ballot facilities to essential service workers like loco pilots, station masters, and ticket traveling examiners (TTEs) hinders the ECI's objective of achieving 100% voter turnout.
Adv Venkatesan further pointed out the discrepancy in providing postal ballot facilities to railway employees, noting that while those in Kerala had been granted this option, those in Tamil Nadu had been denied.
The court will hear the matter next on April 10, 2024.
[Inputs: The Hindu]
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