Can an Election be Declared Null and Void if More Votes are Cast for NOTA? SC Asks ECI
The petition also sought that candidates who secure fewer votes than NOTA should be barred from bye-elections.
Image Source : Live Law
The Supreme Court on Friday issued notice to the Election Commission of India seeking a response on a petition, directing elections to be declared “null and void” and fresh elections should be conducted in the constituency if the maximum votes are polled for the “None of The Above” (NOTA) option.
The three-judge bench of the Supreme Court comprising CJI D Y Chandrachud, Justices J B Pardiwala, and Manoj Mishra were hearing the issue raised by petitioner Shiv Khera.
The filed petition also sought directions that candidates who fail to get more votes than NOTA should be barred from contesting the bye-elections. The petition further stated that the NOTA option should be well-publicized as a “fictional candidate” and appropriate rules should be framed about the same.
Senior Advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan, appearing for the petitioner, highlighted before the bench the recent Surat constituency case, where a BJP candidate was declared the winner without an election, as the nomination of the Congress candidate got rejected and other candidates in opposition withdrew their nominations. “In Surat, nobody else has appeared; they are forced to go with whoever the candidate is,” argued Senior Advocate. He also emphasised that even if there is only one candidate, there should be an election as the voters should have the option to vote for NOTA.
The petition stressed how the states/UTs of Maharashtra, Haryana, Delhi, Puducherry reformed the electoral laws by incorporating the NOTA-related rules. It was highlighted that the respective State Election Commissions mandated re-elections if NOTA secures a majority in any election. This was the first significant change in the electoral system since the inception of NOTA.
The filed petition also states that the respective State Election Commissions field NOTA as a fictional candidate and categorically holds that declaring the second-highest candidate as the winner (in case NOTA gets the highest votes) violates the underlying principles and objectives of NOTA.
After hearing the petition, the three-judge bench headed by CJI issued notice to the Election Commission of India seeking its response on the matter. “We will issue notice. This is also about the electoral process. Let us see what the Election Commission has to say on this,” CJI said.
NOTA was introduced in the EVMs after the directions issued by the apex court in 2013. NOTA provides voters with the option to reject all candidates as unsatisfactory.
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