Soni Satti
The Supreme Court issued notice to the ministry of law and justice and the Election commission of India. It sought their response on a PIL filed to invalidate the election result and hold fresh elections, if maximum votes have been polled in favour of NOTA in a constituency.
The petition was filed by BJP leader Ashwini Upadhyay and represented by Senior Advocate Maneka Guruswamy. Said petition stated,
“The right to reject and elect a new candidate will give power to the people to express their discontent. If voters are dissatisfied with the background or performance of the contesting candidate, they will opt for NOTA to reject such candidate and elect a new candidate,”
Chief Justice SA Bobde expressed his concerns over nullifying the election results and seats being left vacant said,
“If some political party with influence on people manages to get candidates rejected seats will remain unfilled in Parliament. It is a constitutional problem. If your argument is accepted, and all candidates are rejected and that constituency goes unrepresented completely. How will you constitute a valid parliament?”
The petitioner Ashwin Upadhaya opposed this saying that “right to reject” will inspire political parties that good governance cannot be successfully achieved without nullifying the election if NOTA gets maximum votes.
A bench of the Supreme Court accepted the petition and issued the notice. The Bench comprised Chief Justice S A Bobde, Justices A S Bopanna and V Ramasubramanian.
