The Supreme Court on Friday issued notice to Election Commission of India (ECI) on a plea seeking direction to frame rules to the effect that if NOTA (None of the Above) gets a majority, the election held in the particular constituency shall be declared null and void and a fresh election shall be conducted to the constituency, news agency ANI reported.
The plea also sought to frame rules stating that the candidates who garner fewer votes than NOTA shall stand debarred from contesting all elections for a period of five years and to ensure proper and efficient reporting/publicity of NOTA as a “fictional candidate”.
In India, if a voter does want to extend his or her support to any of the candidates contesting in a particular election, they have the option to select NOTA. The option gives voters the power to reject all the candidates listed on the Electronic Voting Machine (EVM).
Also Read: How NOTA is a wastage of votes in elections
Earlier today, the top Court rejected pleas seeking complete cross-verification of votes cast using EVMs with a Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) and said "blindly distrusting" any aspect of the system can breed unwarranted scepticism.
Maintaining that "democracy is all about striving to build harmony and trust between all institutions", a bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta delivered two concurring verdicts and dismissed all the pleas in the matter, including those seeking to go back to ballot papers in elections.
The decisions have come in the backdrop of the ongoing Lok Sabha elections in the country. The elections are being held in seven phases from April 19 to June 1 while the counting of votes will be done on June 4.
(With agency inputs)
Discover the latest Business News, Sensex, and Nifty updates. Obtain Personal Finance insights, tax queries, and expert opinions on Moneycontrol or download the Moneycontrol App to stay updated!
