{"id":3790,"date":"2026-07-08T07:21:58","date_gmt":"2026-07-08T07:21:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/iasquest.com\/?p=3790"},"modified":"2026-07-08T07:23:58","modified_gmt":"2026-07-08T07:23:58","slug":"right-to-vote-right-to-walk","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kingmakersiasacademy.com\/current-affairs\/right-to-vote-right-to-walk\/","title":{"rendered":"Right To Vote &amp; Right to Walk"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading has-text-color has-link-color has-medium-font-size wp-elements-1\" style=\"color:#cf2d2ded\"><strong>1. Do you think the time has come to recognise the right to vote as a Fundamental Right? Give reasons with reference to constitutional provisions and judicial decisions.<\/strong><strong><\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table class=\"has-black-color has-text-color has-background has-link-color\" style=\"background-color:#f5e2c1e0\"><tbody><tr><td><strong>Syllabus: Indian Polity<\/strong> <br><strong>General Studies \u2013 : II <\/strong>Salient features of the Representation of People\u2019s Act.\u00a0<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-black-color has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-2 wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>IN NEWS:<\/strong> In India, voting cannot remain merely a statutory right<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-black-color has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-3 wp-block-paragraph\">In a vibrant democratic republic like India, the vote is the primary instrument of popular sovereignty. However, a long-standing constitutional paradox exists: while democracy is recognized as an unalterable part of the Constitution&#8217;s &#8220;basic structure,&#8221; the individual act of voting has historically been treated as a mere statutory privilege. Given the Supreme Court&#8217;s evolving jurisprudence over the last two decades, <strong>the time has indeed come to explicitly recognize the core right to vote as a Fundamental Right.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading has-black-color has-text-color has-link-color has-medium-font-size wp-elements-4\"><strong>\u00a01. The Traditional Position: A Statutory Right<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-black-color has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-5 wp-block-paragraph\">For over seven decades, the judiciary maintained a conservative, literal interpretation regarding the nature of the ballot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"has-black-color has-text-color has-link-color wp-block-list wp-elements-6\">\n<li><strong>Judicial Precedents:<\/strong> In landmark cases such as <em>N.P. Ponnuswami vs Returning Officer (1952)<\/em> and <em>Jyoti Basu vs Debi Ghosal (1982)<\/em>, the Supreme Court ruled that the right to elect and be elected is neither a common law right nor a fundamental right, but a &#8220;purely statutory right&#8221; created by legislation (principally the Representation of the People Acts). This position was reaffirmed by a Constitution Bench in <em>Kuldip Nayar vs Union of India (2006)<\/em>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>The Original Logic:<\/strong> Because the right to vote is not explicitly listed under Part III (Fundamental Rights) of the Constitution, early courts believed Parliament required broad latitude to regulate, qualify, or disqualify voters to maintain orderly elections.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-black-color has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-7 wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>2. The Evolving Jurisprudence: &#8220;Constitutionalising&#8221; the Vote<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-black-color has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-8 wp-block-paragraph\">Since the turn of the century, the Supreme Court has progressively expanded the scope of Article 19(1)(a) (Freedom of Speech and Expression), effectively creating a constitutional umbrella over the act of voting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"has-black-color has-text-color has-link-color wp-block-list wp-elements-9\">\n<li><strong>The Right to Know (<em>ADR Case, 2002<\/em>):<\/strong> The Court held that voters have a fundamental right to know the criminal, educational, and financial backgrounds of candidates, stating that an uninformed voter cannot meaningfully participate in a democracy.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Freedom of Choice (<em>PUCL Case, 2003<\/em>):<\/strong> The Court drew a sharp distinction between the statutory mechanics of voting and the <em>freedom<\/em> of voting, ruling that making an informed choice is a fundamental right under Article 19(1)(a).<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>The Right to Reject (<em>NOTA Judgment, 2013<\/em>):<\/strong> In introducing &#8220;None of the Above,&#8221; the Court recognized that a voter&#8217;s decision to reject all candidates is a form of political expression. It declared that the secrecy of the ballot\u2014even for those rejecting candidates\u2014is a fundamental facet of expression.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-black-color has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-10 wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>3. The Constitutional Anomaly and Arguments for Elevation<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-black-color has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-11 wp-block-paragraph\">The current legal landscape has created an extraordinary paradox: <strong>the components of voting are fundamental, but the final act is not.<\/strong> If the Constitution protects the right to reject all candidates as a fundamental right, it is legally incongruous that it does not fundamentally protect the right to choose one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-black-color has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-12 wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Recognizing voting as a Fundamental Right is justified by the following core arguments:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-black-color has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-13 wp-block-paragraph\"><a><\/a><strong>A. The Basic Structure Doctrine<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-black-color has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-14 wp-block-paragraph\">Since <em>Kesavananda Bharati (1973)<\/em> and <em>Indira Nehru Gandhi vs Raj Narain (1975)<\/em>, the Supreme Court has held that <strong>democracy<\/strong> and <strong>free and fair elections<\/strong> are part of the basic structure of the Constitution. Because a democracy cannot exist without voters, keeping the citizen\u2019s primary tool of democratic participation outside the constitutional core is a structural contradiction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-black-color has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-15 wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>B. The Constitutional Source (Article 326)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-black-color has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-16 wp-block-paragraph\">The right to vote does not actually originate from Parliament&#8217;s statutes; it flows directly from <strong>Article 326 of the Constitution<\/strong>, which mandates universal adult suffrage. The Representation of the People Acts merely operationalizes this constitutional mandate. Therefore, being an elector is a constitutional entitlement, not a legislative bounty.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-black-color has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-17 wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>C. Shifting Judicial Trends<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-black-color has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-18 wp-block-paragraph\">In <em>Anoop Baranwal vs Union of India (2023)<\/em>, a Constitution Bench frequently referred to voting as a constitutional right rather than a mere statutory one, with Justice Ajay Rastogi explicitly favoring its elevation to a Fundamental Right.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-black-color has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-19 wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>4. Addressing the Regulatory Concern<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-black-color has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-20 wp-block-paragraph\">Elevating voting to a Fundamental Right does not mean it becomes absolute or immune to regulation. Parliament must retain the power to manage the operational mechanics of elections.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"has-black-color has-text-color has-link-color wp-block-list wp-elements-21\">\n<li>Reasonable restrictions and regulations\u2014such as minimum age requirements, residency conditions, electoral roll management, and disqualifications for criminal or corrupt practices\u2014would remain entirely valid.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>What would be elevated is the <strong>core right of an eligible citizen to participate<\/strong>, shielding it from arbitrary executive or legislative disenfranchisement.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-black-color has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-22 wp-block-paragraph\">The distinction between statutory and constitutional rights served its purpose in the infancy of the Republic. Today, it lingers as a constitutional anomaly. To say that the right <em>not<\/em> to vote enjoys fundamental protection under Article 19(1)(a) while the right <em>to<\/em> vote remains a legislative subordinate is untenable. By explicitly recognizing the right to vote as a Fundamental Right, the judiciary would bridge this gap, aligning the citizen\u2019s ultimate democratic power with the basic structure of the Indian Constitution.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table class=\"has-black-color has-text-color has-background has-link-color\" style=\"background-color:#f2e7bbad\"><tbody><tr><td><strong>PYQ REFERENCE UPSC 2017<\/strong> <br>Q. &#8220;To enhance the quality of democracy in India the Election Commission of India has proposed electoral reforms in 2016. What are the suggested reforms and how far are they significant in making the democracy sideshow more vibrant and informed?&#8221;<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-23 wp-block-paragraph\" style=\"color:#4400ffd6\"><strong>Source:<\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/epaper.thehindu.com\/ccidist-ws\/th\/th_international\/issues\/193056\/OPS\/GJAG6887I.1+GOOG7CIMJ.1.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>https:\/\/epaper.thehindu.com\/ccidist-ws\/th\/th_international\/issues\/193056\/OPS\/GJAG6887I.1+GOOG7CIMJ.1.html<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-24 wp-block-paragraph\" style=\"color:#ff0000ed\"><strong>2. Safe pedestrian infrastructure is an essential component of inclusive urban governance. Discuss.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table class=\"has-black-color has-text-color has-background has-link-color\" style=\"background-color:#f2e7bbad\"><tbody><tr><td><strong>Syllabus: Indian Polity<\/strong><br><strong>General Studies \u2013 : II<\/strong> &#8211; <strong>Urban Governance<\/strong><\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-black-color has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-25 wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>IN NEWS:<\/strong> How the right to walk is integral to modernity<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-black-color has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-26 wp-block-paragraph\">In his 1863 essay, Charles Baudelaire linked the act of walking to the very birth of &#8220;modernity.&#8221; In a truly modern and inclusive democracy, public spaces must cater to all citizens, not just those who own capital or automobiles. Safe pedestrian infrastructure\u2014specifically footpaths and walking zones\u2014is not merely a municipal engineering task; it is an essential pillar of <strong>inclusive urban governance<\/strong>. It directly bridges economic equity, public health, environmental sustainability, and fundamental human rights.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-black-color has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-27 wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>1. Pedestrian Infrastructure as a Fundamental Right<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-black-color has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-28 wp-block-paragraph\">Urban governance must move away from car-centric models toward a rights-based approach for pedestrians.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"has-black-color has-text-color has-link-color wp-block-list wp-elements-29\">\n<li><strong>Constitutional Validation:<\/strong> The Supreme Court of India (via Justices P.S. Narasimha and A.S. Chandurkar) recognized the <strong>Right to Walk safely on footpaths<\/strong> as an extension of <strong>Article 19(1)(d)<\/strong> (Freedom of Movement) and <strong>Article 21<\/strong> (Right to Life).<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Challenging Hyper-Capitalist Biases:<\/strong> Inclusive governance actively protects marginalized groups. There is an aggressive urban bias\u2014often voiced by vehicle owners\u2014that pedestrians do not pay &#8220;road tax&#8221; and are thus economic burdens. Inclusive governance corrects this by asserting that the pedestrian has a primary, constitutionally protected claim on public pathways over private automobiles.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-black-color has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-30 wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>2. Pillars of Inclusive Urban Governance<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-black-color has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-31 wp-block-paragraph\"><a><\/a><strong>A. Socio-Economic Equity<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-black-color has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-32 wp-block-paragraph\">In developing nations, a vast majority of the population walks out of economic necessity (the urban poor, daily wage laborers, street vendors, and students).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"has-black-color has-text-color has-link-color wp-block-list wp-elements-33\">\n<li><strong>The Equalizer:<\/strong> Safe footpaths are the ultimate democratic space. When cities build expansive highways but ignore pavements, they structurally disenfranchise the poor. Inclusive planning ensures that the right to mobility is not gated behind private vehicle ownership.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Gender and Vulnerable Groups:<\/strong> Well-lit, obstacle-free footpaths are critical for the safety and mobility of women, children, the elderly, and persons with disabilities (<em>Divyangjan<\/em>).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-black-color has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-34 wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>B. Preservation of Political and Democratic Spaces<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-black-color has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-35 wp-block-paragraph\">Historically, walking has been the foundational language of Indian resistance and political consciousness\u2014from Mahatma Gandhi\u2019s <em>Dandi March<\/em> and Subhash Chandra Bose\u2019s <em>&#8216;Delhi Chalo&#8217;<\/em> to modern peaceful protests.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"has-black-color has-text-color has-link-color wp-block-list wp-elements-36\">\n<li>Pavements and streets act as physical forums for public life and civic expression. If cities erase footpaths, they eliminate the spaces where citizens encounter one another, dialogue, and exercise democratic visibility.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-black-color has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-37 wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>C. Public Health and Mental Well-being<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-black-color has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-38 wp-block-paragraph\">As Michel de Certeau noted, walking creates a &#8220;long poem&#8221; that manipulates rigid urban spaces, allowing for thought, reflection, and mental unknotting. Safe pedestrian infrastructure encourages active mobility, lowering carbon footprints, reducing urban heat islands, and combating lifestyle diseases like obesity and cardiovascular stress.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-black-color has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-39 wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>3. Current Deficits in Urban Pedestrian Planning<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"has-black-color has-text-color has-link-color wp-block-list wp-elements-40\">\n<li><strong>Encroachment and Fragmentation:<\/strong> Footpaths are frequently hijacked by illegal parking, commercial spillover, or poorly placed utility boxes, forcing pedestrians onto dangerous roads.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>The &#8220;Fl\u00e2neur&#8221; vs. Reality Paradox:<\/strong> While literature and spiritual history (from Guru Nanak to Siddhartha) celebrate walking as an act of free wandering, the physical reality of modern Indian cities treats the aimless walker with hostility and safety hazards.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Design Deficiencies:<\/strong> Pavements are often high, discontinuous, lack ramp access, and lack shading, making them hostile to regular use.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-black-color has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-41 wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>4. Way Forward: Framework for Inclusive Pedestrian Governance<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-black-color has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-42 wp-block-paragraph\">To translate the &#8220;Right to Walk&#8221; from a judicial text into urban reality, city administrators should implement the following measures:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"has-black-color has-text-color has-link-color wp-block-list wp-elements-43\">\n<li><strong>National Zero-Casualty Pedestrian Policies:<\/strong> Adopt &#8220;Vision Zero&#8221; frameworks where urban transport design prioritizes pedestrian safety over vehicular speed.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>The &#8220;15-Minute City&#8221; Design:<\/strong> Decentralize urban utilities so that essential services (healthcare, groceries, education) are accessible within a comfortable 15-minute walk, reducing vehicular reliance.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Mandatory Non-Motorized Transport (NMT) Budgets:<\/strong> Municipal corporations must allocate fixed, non-divertible budgets specifically for building continuous, tree-shaded, and barrier-free pavements.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Strict Anti-Encroachment Laws:<\/strong> Clear walking spaces of vehicular parking while creating designated, organized zones for street vendors to balance livelihood rights with pedestrian rights.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table class=\"has-black-color has-text-color has-background has-link-color\" style=\"background-color:#f2e7bbad\"><tbody><tr><td><strong>PYQ REFERENCE UPSC 2016<\/strong> <br>Q. &#8220;With a brief background of quality of urban life in India, introduce the objectives and strategy of the \u2018Smart Cities Mission\u2019.&#8221;<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-44 wp-block-paragraph\" style=\"color:#4400ffd6\"><strong>Source:<\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/epaper.thehindu.com\/ccidist-ws\/th\/th_international\/issues\/193056\/OPS\/GJAG6887L.1+G7DG7D0NA.1.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>https:\/\/epaper.thehindu.com\/ccidist-ws\/th\/th_international\/issues\/193056\/OPS\/GJAG6887L.1+G7DG7D0NA.1.html<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Do you think the time has come to recognise the right to vote as a Fundamental Right? Give reasons [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":3791,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[68,39,25,12,57,34],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3790","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-daily-current-affairs","category-daws","category-gs-2","category-mains","category-polity","category-polity-and-governance"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kingmakersiasacademy.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3790","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kingmakersiasacademy.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kingmakersiasacademy.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kingmakersiasacademy.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kingmakersiasacademy.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3790"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/kingmakersiasacademy.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3790\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3793,"href":"https:\/\/kingmakersiasacademy.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3790\/revisions\/3793"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kingmakersiasacademy.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3791"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kingmakersiasacademy.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3790"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kingmakersiasacademy.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3790"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kingmakersiasacademy.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3790"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}