GUWAHATI: The Supreme Court on Friday, April 26, issued notice on a petition seeking a directive that if "None of The Above" (NOTA) receives the maximum votes in a constituency, the election should be declared "null and void," and a fresh election must be conducted.
The petitioner, Shiv Khera, argued that if NOTA received the majority of votes in a constituency, a re-election should be held, and the same candidates who lost to NOTA should be barred from contesting the subsequent bye-election. The petition also sought a directive to the Election Commission of India (ECI) to frame rules ensuring proper publicity for NOTA as a "fictional candidate."
Click here to join our WhatsApp channel
A bench comprising Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud, Justice JB Pardiwala, and Justice Manoj Misra agreed to consider the issues raised by the petitioner. NOTA was introduced into the Electronic Voting Machines following a Supreme Court directive in 2013 in response to a PIL filed by the Peoples Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL), providing voters with an option to reject all candidates. However, under the current law, NOTA's majority does not automatically invalidate the election. If NOTA receives the majority, the candidate with the second-highest number of votes is declared the winner.
Senior advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan, representing the petitioner, cited a recent example in Surat where a BJP candidate was declared the winner by default after the Congress candidate's nomination was rejected, and other candidates withdrew their nominations. He argued that even in such cases, there should be an election, allowing voters the option to vote for NOTA. "In Surat, where nobody else has appeared, voters are forced to accept whoever the candidate is," Sankaranarayanan said.
Observing that the petition seeks to extend the law beyond the Supreme Court's original ruling, CJI Chandrachud agreed to examine the matter. "Let's see what the Election Commission has to say," the CJI remarked.
