OUR COREESPONDENT / NEW DELHI
In a major setback to Congress party, the Supreme Court today refused to stay the Election Commission’s notification allowing None of the Above (NOTA) provision in the upcoming Rajya Sabha polls in Gujarat.
The court’s order came on a plea filed by Gujarat Congress Chief whip Shailesh Manubhai Parmar who had sought an interim stay on the operation of Tuesday’s notification.
The court said it will not stay the proceedings, but will examine the constitutional validity of the notification.
The apex court did not agree to the contention of Senior advocate Kapil Sibal representing the Gujarat Congress that NOTA will encourage corruption.
The NOTA provision has been introduced by the poll panel in pursuance of the apex court’s 2014 judgement asking it to consider granting choice of NOTA to the electorate.
Earlier, the Congress had also approached the Election Commission against the use of NOTA in the polls. It had claimed that the option was violative of the Constitution and electoral laws. The poll panel rejected the demand saying that NOTA will be applicable.
The polls are scheduled to take place on the August 8th.