Role of Deras in appealing for elections under question

A seven-judge Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court of India wanted to know if appeals by “dera” chiefs to their followers to vote for particular candidates in the elections would result in disqualification of the successful contestants under Section 123 of the Representation of People Act that barred wooing of voters in the name of religion, race, caste, community or language.

Most of the “deras” were founded on the basis of a set of moral and spiritual values and a particular way of life, rather than on religious or community lines. A number of them had millions of followers, the CJI and Justice Goel noted.

Senior counsel Arvind Datar, who was arguing for one of the disqualified candidates from Maharashtra, pleaded if the “dera” in question was not based on religion, caste or any of those sections figuring in the RP Act, the candidates supported by it would not fall foul of the law.

The Bench also wanted to know the status of candidates getting the support of religious leaders. In some cases, religious leaders asked their followers to vote for some candidates irrespective of the religion of the contestants, they pointed out.

In a judgment in 1995, a thee-member Bench of the apex court had ruled that seeking votes in the name of Hindusim or Hindutva would not attract disqualification as these Hinduism was a way of life and did not denote religion.