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The Supreme Court on Tuesday held that NOTA (Non Of The Above) option would not be exercised in the Rajya Sabha elections. This would not only undermine the purity of democracy but also serve the Satan of defection and corruption. The bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra, Justice DAY Chandrachud, Justice Khanwilkar said that NOTA destroys the value of a vote and will take away the meaning of representation, thereby encouraging defection. The bench said that on the first inspection, it may appear worthwhile and indispensable for indirect elections but on keen scrutiny it is observed that NOTA fails in terms of democratic value.
The hearing arose out of a petition filed by Shailesh Manubhai Parmar, challenging the directive of Election Commission that sought to introduce the concept of NOTA in Rajya Sabha Elections. The petition contended that this system is against article 80 (4) of the Constitution of India, and that the SC had held in the case of People’s Union for Civil Liberties v. Union of India that the Rajya Sabha elections must be held by the system of proportional representation by means of single transferable vote.
The ECI held that there is no distinction between Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha Elections. There is not need to maintain secrecy in the Rajya Sabha elections and that does not take away the right of an elector to not vote by exercising the NOTA option. The concept of vote being transferable has a different connotation an that a person who is a representative of a state cannot be representative of a constituency. Thus NOTA in the election process of Rajya Sabha would be an anathema to the fundamental criterion of democracy that is the basic feature of the Constitution.
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