Inmates Of Mental Health Rehab Centre Can Vote In General Elections Unless Declared Disqualified By Competent Court: Kerala High Court

The Kerala High Court recently paved way for the inmates of a mental health rehabilitation centre to vote in the ensuing 2025 general elections.Justice P.V. Kunhikrishnan rejected a plea arguing that such persons are incompetent to cast their votes according to their will.The bench observed that Courts can't presume that the inmates are mentally challenged persons or suffering from mental illness, without any iota of evidence."Even if it is assumed that they have some mental ailments, that alone will not disqualify them for registration in an electoral roll. Section 74 of the Kerala Municipality Act, 1994 deals with disqualifications for registration in the electoral roll. Section 74(1)(b) says that a person shall be disqualified for registration in an electoral roll if he is of unsound mind and stands so declared by a competent court. There is absolutely no case to the petitioners that Serial Nos. 349 to 358 and 360 to 407 in the Ext.P1 voters list are persons of unsound mind and stand so declared by a competent court," it said.Further, the Court held that non-inclusion of the inmates in the plea filed against their voting rights was enough to dismiss it.The development comes in a plea filed by permanent residents of Pulikmalkunnu Bhagom in the Pala Municipality with a prayer to keep the votes of persons residing in a rehabilitation centre in a separate electronic voting machine (EVM).According to the petitioners, when the draft voters list was published, they found that around 60 voters were from 'Mariya Sadhanam', a rehabilitation centre for persons with mental challenges. As they felt that such persons are unable to cast their votes according to their will, the petitioners approached the Election Registration Officer to remove the said persons from the final voters' list.Since these persons were included in the final voters' list, the petitioner submitted representations before the District Collector and Joint Director for Rural Development Department to remove them. However, no response was taken on these.Thereupon, the petitioners came before the High Court to segregate such persons' votes.The Court remarked that a plea for segregation of voters, who are inhabitants of a rehabilitation centre, without even making them a party to the proceedings amounts to an insult and injustice to such persons.“In a democratic process, it is necessary that ineligible persons are not included in the electoral roll. That does not mean that anyone can declare a person to be of unsound mind and approach this Court with a prayer to exclude them from the regular voters and to place them in a separate class, allowing them to vote on a separate electronic voting machine. This is a case in which they were not even made a party. Even the authorities of 'Mariya Sadhanam' were also not impleaded ...They are not even a party in this writ petition, at least in a representative capacity. What an insult to those persons who are said to be in a rehabilitation centre!”Frowning upon the plea, the Court highlighted the need to keep persons with mental illnesses close to one's hearts instead of treating them as a separate class. It remarked:“Mental illness is not a sin. It can happen to anyone. All of us, in one way or another, have experienced mental disturbance. Some are hot- tempered, some arrogant, some inhumane, some derive pleasure from the misfortune of others, some enjoy physical confrontations with others, some are jealous of others, and some take pleasure in cruelty toward humans or animals. All these are the varying mental conditions of different individuals. These are more dangerous than the mental illness defined in Section 2(s) of the Act 2017. Mental illnesses can be managed with proper medication and some patience in their treatment. We have to take care of those people.”The Court also looked into Sections 2(s), and 3 of the Mental Health Act, 2017, which are provisions that define and determine 'mental illness'. It also gave reference to Section 4, which pertains to the capacity of person with mental illnesses to make mental healthcare and treatment decisions.It felt that declaring persons to be of unsound mind without even hearing them is an injustice and an insult to such persons. It, thus, dismissed the petition.Case No: WP(C) No. 42170 Of 2025Case Title: Jomon Jacob and Anr. v. State Election Commission and Ors. Citation: 2025 LiveLaw (Ker) 748Counsel for the petitioners: Joseph T. JohnCounsel for the respondents: Deepu Lal Mohan – SC – State Election Commission, Kerala,Deepa K.R. – Special Government PleaderClick to Read/Download Judgment

Inmates Of Mental Health Rehab Centre Can Vote In General Elections Unless Declared Disqualified By Competent Court: Kerala High Court

K. Salma Jennath

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