NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court reserved its verdict on whether NOTA option be allowed in the Rajya Sabha elections.
The issue seems more cotentious because the Centre and the Election Commission have taken divergent stands on the issue.The Centre supported a petition filed by Gujarat Congress leader Shailesh Manubhai Parmar against NOTA in the Rajya Sabha polls.
But, the EC opposed it, saying a member’s right to vote included his/her the right not to vote, which was not against the conduct of election rules.
Attorney General K K Venugopal said NOTA could be applied in direct elections and there were difficulties in using it in indirect elections.
The bench orally observed that NOTA could end up indirectly encouraging and legitimising cross voting by RS MPs.
“If a person does not vote, he could be expelled. But by introducing NOTA, you are legitimising the act of not voting,” said Justice Chandrachud.