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Satya Prakash
Tribune News Service
New Delhi, August 21
The Supreme Court on Tuesday struck down the ‘None of the Above’ (NOTA) option given to voters in the Rajya Sabha elections, saying it would encourage corruption and defections.
Quashing the Election Commission’s notification prescribing NOTA option in the Rajya Sabha polls, a three-judge Bench headed by Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra said, “NOTA will destroy the concept of value of a vote and representation and encourage defection that shall open the doors for corruption which is a malignant disorder...”
The Bench, which also included Justice AM Khanwilkar and Justice DY Chandrachud, said, “The introduction of NOTA in indirect elections may on a first glance tempt the intellect but on a keen scrutiny, it falls to the ground, for it completely ignores the role of an elector in such an election and fully destroys the democratic value.”
The ruling came on a petition filed by Gujarat Congress leader Shailesh Manubhai Parmar challenging the Election Commission’s notification for the RS polls in the state last year.
The NOTA option was introduced for the Lok Sabha and Assembly elections by the Election Commission following a Supreme Court order in 2013. It was introduced in the Rajya Sabha polls in 2014.
During the hearing, the Centre had supported the Congress in opposing NOTA for the Rajya Sabha elections.
The top court said the Rajya Sabha polls were an indirect form meant for proportional representation of states in the council of states.
“The option of NOTA may serve as an elixir in direct elections but in respect of the election to the Council of States which is a different one...it would not only undermine the purity of democracy but also serve the Satan of defection and corruption,” the Bench noted.
It said NOTA “may look attractive but its practical application defeats the fairness ingrained in an indirect election. More so where the elector‘s vote has value and the value of the vote is transferrable.”
“…where open ballot is permissible and secrecy of voting has no room and further where the discipline of the political party/parties matters, it is clear that such choice will have a negative impact,” said the Bench explaining the voting process for the Council of States elections.
The Bench said, “An elector, though a single voter, has a quantified value of his vote and the surplus votes are transferable. There is existence of a formula for determining the value of the vote. The concept of vote being transferable has a different connotation. It further needs to be stated that a candidate after being elected becomes a representative of the State and does not represent a particular constituency.
“The cumulative effect of all these aspects clearly conveys that the introduction of NOTA to the election process for electing members of the Council of States will be an anathema to the fundamental criterion of democracy which is a basic feature of the Constitution”, it noted.
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