In the upcoming Rajya Sabha polls, the Supreme court has declared that NOTA will not stand as a voting option during the election process in the upper house. The bench headed by CJI Dipak Misra held that the option of NOTA should only be available for the direct election processes and not on the polls held in the representative bodies, like the upper house.
“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,” read the judgement of the bench,
Stating that the idea may seem good at a superficial or hypothetical level the court exerted that it would lead to ‘defection’ and ‘corruption’ in the houses’ election destroying the ‘democratic value’ which is one of the important pillars for the establishment of such institutions.
“… the idea 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… is transferable.”
The court order came on a petition, filed by the chief whip of INC, Shailesh Manubhai Parmar, challenging the EC to remove this option. The EC insisted that it was introduced ‘long ago and several rounds of indirect elections had since been held’. Parmar had previously alleged, that if the NOTA provision was allowed in the polls it would ‘encourage horse-trading and corruption’.
The NOTA option was introduced in the Lok Sabha elections and the state assembly elections by the Supreme Court in the year 2013. the Election Commission, on the other hand, had introduced the same for the Rajya Sabha in the year 2014 however, Congress had previously opposed the existence of the NOTA in the polls. This dissent was also supported by the BJP government in the centre.