NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Tuesday struck down the four-year-old 'none of the above' option in Rajya Sabha polls, saying Nota defeated the fairness in indirect elections, destroyed democratic values and served "the Satan of defection and corruption".

"The introduction of Nota in indirect elections may on first glance tempt the intellect but on keen scrutiny, it falls to the ground, for it completely ignores the role of an elector in such an election and destroys democratic values," ruled a bench of Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justices A M Khanwilkar and D Y Chandrachud.

The EC had introduced Nota option in Rajya Sabha polls in 2014, a year after the SC had ordered the commission to give this option to voters in direct polls to register their protest that none of the candidates in the fray were suitable to represent them in Lok Sabha or assemblies.

The CJI-led bench was in complete agreement with the 2013 SC judgment, which had ordered introduction of Nota in direct elections. Writing the judgment, the CJI said, "Option of Nota may serve as an elixir in direct elections but in respect of the election to Council of States, which is different, it will not only undermine the purity of democracy but also serve the Satan of defection and corruption.

"It can be said without a speck of doubt that the decision taken by the Election Commission as regards introduction of Nota in the election of the members to the Council of States also runs counter to what has been stated above. Nota will destroy the concept of value of a vote and representation and encourage defection that shall open the doors for corruption which is a malignant disorder."

Stressing that democracy gained strength from citizens' trust in the purity, probity, integrity and rectitude of a electoral process, the bench said, "Such stronghold can be maintained only by ensuring that the process of elections remains unsullied and unpolluted so that the citadel of democracy stands tall as an impregnable bulwark against unscrupulous forces."

The challenge to Nota in Rajya Sabha elections was brought to the SC by Gujarat Congress through Shailesh Manubhai Parmar on the eve of last year's polls involving Congress general secretary Ahmed Patel as the party faced desertion of its MLAs and alleged poaching by BJP. However, the BJP-led NDA supported the petitioner in seeking disbanding of Nota in Rajya Sabha polls, which witnesses indirect elections as well as open ballot unlike secrecy of voting associated with Lok Sabha and assembly polls.

The bench said, “The idea (Nota) may look attractive but its practical application defeats the fairness ingrained in an indirect election. More so where the elector’s vote has value and the value of the vote is transferable.” It quashed all circulars issued by the EC introducing Nota in Rajya Sabha polls while allowing Parmar’s petition.

Holding that the EC went beyond the SC’s 2013 mandate in its ruling on Nota given in People’s Union for Civil Liberties judgment, the bench said, “The commission cannot be allowed to conceive of certain concepts of ideas or, for that matter, think of a different dimension which would not fit into the legal framework.”

