Supreme Court calls for mechanism to make voting compulsory

The court was hearing a PIL challenging a clause in the Representation of the People Act, 1951

• Supreme Court seeks mechanism to ensure compulsory voting
• Court questions impact of NOTA on leader quality
• Plea on NOTA facility in single-candidate polls set for March 17

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The Supreme Court on Tuesday said there is a need to devise a suitable mechanism – not necessarily involving penalties – to ensure compulsory voting, with the aim of strengthening democracy and diminishing the relevance of the NOTA option.

A bench led by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi remarked that NOTA was introduced to incentivise political parties to field better candidates and to prompt voters to participate. The court noted that a decade of data shows the option has been exercised by only a minuscule share of the electorate.

The court was hearing a PIL challenging a clause in the Representation of the People Act, 1951, contending that it prevents voters from exercising the NOTA option in cases where only one candidate is contesting. The petitioner sought to make the NOTA facility compulsory across all elections, including those with a sole candidate.

NOTA (None of the Above) was introduced in 2013 after the Supreme Court’s landmark verdict in People’s Union for Civil Liberties vs Union of India, directing the Election Commission to incorporate the option in electronic voting machines.

During the brief hearing on Tuesday, Justice Bagchi asked, “Has the quality of the leaders elected improved with NOTA.” The judge said NOTA cannot become an entity because it cannot fill up a seat despite getting the maximum number of votes.

The bench also rued the developing trend that educated and well-off voters hardly vote in comparison to uneducated and women in the elections.

“Let judiciary not decide what amendments are to be carried out in the RP Act. It is for Parliament to decide if any deficiency is required to be remedied or any amendment is to be carried out in a statute,” attorney general R Venktaramani was quoted as saying in a Times of India report.

The top court has now fixed the plea for hearing on March 17.