Supreme Court Ruling against Compulsory Voting

M.P Vashi, a senior lawyer from Bombay challenged the rules of the Bar Council of Maharashtra which stipulated that if a member of the Bar Council did not vote for a minimum of 10 lawyers who are contesting the Bar Council elections and whose names are on the voting card, then that vote of that member would be invalidated. M.P. Vashi argued that lawyers do not want to be forced to vote for those whom they do not know and they do not want to vote for persons they consider not competent. Dealing with this issue the Supreme Court of India in Bar Council of Maharashtra Vs. M.P. Vashi struck down the rules of the Bar Council as ultra vires the Advocates Act and upheld the rights of the advocates to vote only for those persons they consider competent. In short, the Supreme Court has held that a person cannot be forced to vote for an unknown person or against his will and has a right to remain neutral.