Supreme Court refuses to stay NOTA option in upcoming Gujarat Rajya Sabha polls

The Supreme Court of India on Thursday refused to stay None Of The Above (NOTA) option in upcoming Gujarat Rajya Sabha polls on August 8.

The apex court also slammed Congress party for coming in the eleventh hour as EC issued the notification in January 2014.

“Why you are so late in raising the question as EC issued a notification in Jan 2014, the court asked.

“When it suited you, you did not come. You come here on the eve of elections,” a bench of the top court said.

Representing the Congress, senior lawyer Kapil Sibal argued in the court saying that NOTA is a recipe for Corruption.

Earlier on Wednesday, the ruling BJP govt had also approached the Election Commission seeking removal of the None Of The Above (NOTA) option in the upcoming Rajya Sabha election in Gujarat, a day after the Congress made a similar demand.

“It is submitted that use of NOTA in the upcoming poll has become an issue of debate among the political parties and therefore, a proper consensus should be made before the use of NOTA in the election in Rajya Sabha,” the BJP said in a memorandum to the EC.

The NOTA – none of the above – gives voters an additional option to reject all the candidates in fray.

(With PTI inputs)