Emphasising that voting should be made mandatory, former Election Commissioner G.V.G Krishnamurthy has said that those who do not use this constitutional right should be punished.
"Those who do not use the constitutional right of casting vote in elections should be punished or fined and their civic rights must be withdrawn for a certain period of time," he said.
"The right to vote is a constitutional right but most citizens don't go to polling booths to cast their votes," he said.
Parliament should enact a law to make voting a mandatory excercise and criminals should not be allowed to contest elections, the former EC said.
Krishnamurthy was speaking as the chief guest at a seminar titled 'voting rights and public' organised by the Institute of Management Studies here last evening.