The Supreme Court on Monday refused to direct the Election Commission to hold fresh polls if the majority of the electorate exercises ‘None of the Above Option’ (NOTA) in the electronic voting machines while casting their votes.
A three-judge of Chief Justice P. Sathasivam and Justices Ranjana Desai and Ranjan Gogoi told the counsel for the petitioner that it was for the legislature to amend the law as it was too early to pass such a direction. The CJI said: “The NOTA has been introduced recently and it remains to be seen how the people respond to it. We cannot give such a direction. It is for Parliament to amend the law. If you want, you give a representation to the government.”
The petitioner Jagganath sought a direction to the Election Commission not to declare the results when the majority of electorate opted for NOTA in the electronic voting machine.
The apex court had on September 27 held that the voters had a right to exercise the option to reject all the candidates contesting in an election by exercising the NOTA option and the Election Commission has introduced it in the Assembly recent elections in phases.
