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KembaraXtra - Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita - Section 172 - Personation at Elections
Section 172 — Personation at Elections
Section 172 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, deals with the offence of personation during an election.
A person commits this offence if, during an election, they apply for a voting paper or cast a vote using the name of another person. It does not matter whether the person whose name is used is alive or deceased.
The offence also covers a person who applies for a voting paper or votes under a fictitious or invented name.
Furthermore, if a person has already voted once at an election and subsequently applies for another voting paper in their own name at the same election, that conduct also constitutes personation.
Section 172 extends beyond the individual who directly engages in such voting conduct. A person who abets, arranges, facilitates or attempts to procure voting by another person in any of the prohibited ways also commits the offence of personation at an election.
Exception — Lawful Proxy Voting
The proviso to Section 172 creates an exception for lawful proxy voting.
Where a person has been authorised under a law currently in force to vote as a proxy for an elector, Section 172 does not apply to that person insofar as they cast a vote in their capacity as the authorised proxy for that elector.
Accordingly, voting on behalf of another elector is not treated as personation under this provision when it is carried out within the scope of lawful proxy authorisation.
Commentary
Section 172 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, corresponds to Section 171-D of the Indian Penal Code, 1860.
According to the supplied commentary, the wording of the provision has not been altered. The provision has been retained in the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita in substantially the same form as its corresponding provision under the Indian Penal Code.
Key Takeaway
Section 172 identifies personation at elections as applying for a voting paper or voting under another person’s name, whether that person is living or dead, or under a fictitious name. It also covers applying again for a voting paper in one’s own name after already voting at the same election, as well as abetting, procuring or attempting to procure such voting.
However, the provision does not apply to a person voting as a lawfully authorised proxy for an elector, provided the voting remains within the scope of that authorisation.
IPC Equivalent: Section 171-D IPC.
Legislative Position: The language remains unchanged, and the provision has been retained as it was.
