“Democracy Still In Its Infancy”: Madras High Court In Plea To Educate Politicians, Citizens Against Religion And Caste Based Voting

The bench of Justice R Subramanian and Justice G Arul Murugan noted that though a mandamus as sought for could not be issued, the court could only hope that things change and citizens as well as politicians change and not adopt caste or religion as the basis for contesting in election or for voting preference.

“In a vast country like ours, the change cannot be over night. Democracy, though is 75 years old, is still in its infancy. Therefore, we can only hope that things change at least after some time and the people concerned namely, the citizens as well as the politicians change and they do not adopt caste or religion as the basis for either contesting in the election or for their voting preferences,” the court said.

The observation was made in a petition file by Rajesh Anouar Mahimaidoss, a lawyer based in Vellore. In his plea Mahimaidoss submitted that free and fair election was paramount to an electoral democracy and during election and non-election period, it was common for parties to often use religion, language and caste as a tool to polarise people to get political gain.

He added that even after 75 years of Independence, the political parties undertake a divide and rule policy and seek vote in the name of religion, caste and language which is against the constitution. He submitted that even if regulations were put in place to curb this practice, political parties often did things indirectly. He added that while the ECI took steps to curb this practice during the election time, during the non-election time, the political parties made use of the lacuna and continued to engage in this practice.

Thus, he submitted that it was the duty of the ECI to have a round the year system to disseminate information about the preamble, the basic structure of the constitution, and Section 123(3) of the Representation of Peoples Act.

He thus sought for the ECI to frame a system through which the information was disseminated through social media, mainstream media, public places and other entertainment places. He also sought directions to the ECI to upload these details in the official website and in the website of state election commission, political parties, polling stations etc. He also sought for a commission to be appointed, comprising retired judges and human rights activists to ensure proper implementation of Supreme Court orders.

The ECI submitted that it was doing its best to achieve optimum turn out in elections and also to ensure that the campaigns in election is not based on religion and caste.

Considering ECI's submission, the court opined that it could not issue the mandamus as sought for. Thus, the court dismissed the plea.

Counsel for the Petitioner: Mr. Rajesh Anouar Mahimaidoss (P-in-P)

Counsel for the Respondents: Mr. Niranjan Rajagopalan

Case Title: Rajesh Anouar Mahimaidoss v Election Commission of India

Citation: 2025 LiveLaw (Mad) 78

Case No: WP No: 12688 of 2024