THE Supreme Court Friday issued notice to the Central Government and Election Commission on a plea seeking directions to nullify election results and hold fresh elections if the maximum votes polled are in favour of “None of the above” (NOTA) in a particular constituency.
A bench led by the Chief Justice of India was hearing a public interest litigation filed by BJP leader Ashwini Upadhyay seeking the apex court’s directions to restrict contesting candidates from taking part in fresh election, if they have already participated in them but have received votes that were less than NOTA.
A rather reluctant CJI described it as a constitutional problem, and asked, “If your argument is accepted, and all candidates are rejected then that constituency goes unrepresented completely. How will you constitute a valid legislature like this”?
In response, senior advocate Menaka Guruswamy, for the petitioner, said the right to reject would lead to political parties supporting only those candidates that voters found acceptable.
The bench, which was initially hesitant to examine the matter, decided to issue notice.
