New Delhi, Aug 21 (IANS) The Supreme Court on Tuesday ruled that NOTA (None of the above) option cannot be allowed in the Rajya Sabha elections as it would "wholly undermine the purity of democracy".
"The option of NOTA may serve as an elixir in direct elections but in respect of election to Council of States which is a different one, it would wholly undermine the purity of democracy and also serve as the Satan of defection and corruption," said a bench of Chief Justice Dipak Misra, Justice A.M. Khanwilkar and Justice D.Y. Chandrachud.
Quashing a notification issued by the Election Commission introducing NOTA in Rajya Sabha elections, Chief Justice Misra said: "The introduction of NOTA in indirect election may on the 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."
"More so where the electors' vote has value and the value of that vote is transferable... It is an abstraction which does not withstand the scrutiny of the 'cosmos of correctness'," it added quoting Justice Krishna Iyer.
The apex court said it has to be remembered that "democracy garners its strength from the citizenry trust which is sustained only on the foundational pillars of purity, integrity, probity and rectitude and such strongholds can be maintained only by ensuring the process of election remains unsullied and unpolluted so that the citadel of democracy stand still as an impregnable bulwark against unscrupulous forces".
Noting that the voting in election to Rajya Sabha are by open ballot, the court said that it has been so introduced to "sustain the foundational values of party discipline and to avoid any kind of cross voting thereby ensuring purity in the election process."
Noting that the nature of voting by an elector in Rajya Sabha election is of a "grave concern", the court said, "It is because in such an election, there is a party whip and the elector is bound to obey the command of the party."
The party discipline in this kind of election, the court said, is of "extreme significance, for that is the fulcrum of the existence of political parties. It is essential in a parliamentary democracy."
"The thought of cross-voting and corruption is obnoxious in such a voting", the court said.
Holding that the Election Commission has to act within the four corners of law made by Parliament, the court said, "The Commission cannot be allowed to conceive of certain concepts or ideas or, for that matter, think of a different dimension which would not fit into the legal framework."
The top court verdict came on a petition by Shailesh Manubhai Parmar who had challenged August 1, 2017, a circular issued by Secretary, Gujarat Legislature Secretariat, making available the option of NOTA during voting for election to Rajya Sabha.
Shailesh Manubhai Parmar is the chief whip of the Congress in Gujarat assembly.
The circular by the Secretary, Gujarat Legislature Secretariat was based on November 12, 2015 circular of the Election Commission directing the Chief Electoral Officers of all the States and the Union Territories that the option of NOTA could be applicable for elections in the Rajya Sabha.
Allowing the petition by Shailesh Manubhai Parmar, the court said that the circulars issued by the Election Commission introducing NOTA in elections to the Council of States are quashed.
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