Domicile not needed to be RS MP: SC

New Delhi, Aug 22 (UNI) The Supreme Court today dismissed the writ petition challenging the amendment to section 3 of the Representation of People Act, 1951 doing away with the requirement of domicile in the state concerned for getting elected to the Rajya Sabha and also introducing open ballot in place of secret ballot.

The court said, '' The arguements raised by the petitioner hold no water and are, therefore, liable to be repelled. It does not transgress the basic structure of the Constitution of India, challenge thus must be repelled. Residence is not a constitutional requirement, it is only a qualification.'' A five-judge conststituion bench comprising Chief justice Y K Sabharwal, Justice K G Balakrishnan, Justice S H Kapadia, Justice C K Thakker and Justice P K Balasubramaniyan, while dismissing the writ pettion filed by eminent journalist Kuldip Nayar and former MP Inderjeet, noted that ''the impugned amendments cannot be assailed as unconstitutional. Thus, the validity of the law that was changed after more then half a century is upheld as the amendment does not infringe upon the parameters of federalism as well as a democracy''.

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