Guj RS polls to be held with NOTA says Supreme Court

The Supreme Court has said that the Rajya Sabha elections will be held with the NOTA option. The SC refused to stay the implementation of NOTA by the Election Commission of India. A petition had been filed in the SC challenging its implementation on the ground that it was constitutionally invalid. The court said that it would hear the matter in detail on September 18. The RS polls in Gujarat is scheduled for August 8.

The Congress contended that if NOTA is not stayed then MLAs will be bought by the other side to defeat its candidate. The SC said that it was a constitutional issue which needs to be debated. The court also asked the ECI to respond to the petition filed by the Congress in two weeks.

The SC observed that the EC issued the notification relating to NOTA in RS polls way back in 2014. We do not understand why the Congress has raised pitfalls now, the court also observed.

Attorney General of India, K K Venugopal said that the centre has nothing to do with the ED notification of July 24 in which NOTA was prescribed.

Appearing for the Congress, senior counsel Kapil Sibal said that for the first time there are four candidates for three RS seats in Gujarat. He also submitted that if NOTA is not disabled for the Gujarat RS polls, it would become a tool for corruption.

OneIndia News