Choose between veil and right to vote, rules SC

New Delhi: Women cannot be issued voter identity cards if they refuse to lift their veils to be photographed, the Supreme Court has ruled.

A bench comprising Chief Justice K G Balakrishnan and Justice Deepak Verma gave the order on Friday while hearing a petition by Madurai resident Ajmal Khan, who had pleaded that printing photos of Muslim women in the voters list violates Islam and their fundamental right to practise and profess their religion.

The Supreme Court was not convinced, and asked him what Muslim women would do if they contested elections.

“What if you want to contest an election?” asked the court. “If you have such strong religious sentiments, and do not want to be seen by members of public, then do not go to vote. You cannot go with burqa to vote. It will create complications in identification of voters.

“If someone comes to vote in a burqa and the photograph was also taken with a veil covering the face, how would anyone identify the voter?'' the court said.

Khan filed a plea in the apex court after the Madras High Court ruling dismissed his plea questioning Election Commission of India’s move to have photographs of voters in electoral rolls.

“The religious custom and preachings of Holy Quran lay down that Muslim women should wear purdah and ‘burqa’ and show their faces only to their husbands and close relatives,” Khan said in his plea.

Khan’s plea said Muslim women were not against voter identity cards, but opposed having their pictures printed on a public document.

(With inputs from IANS and CNN-IBN correspondents.)