NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Monday dropped loud hints about scrapping 'None of the above' (Nota) option for MLAs in Rajya Sabha polls in a rare instance of the BJP-led NDA government and Congress agreeing on demanding discontinuance of Nota on grounds that it is not suitable for indirect elections.

The coming together of the government and Congress left the Election Commission isolated in defending Nota in RS elections, which it had notified in January 2014. The apex court had in 2013 PUCL judgment ordered Nota for voters in general elections. It said RS elections see an open ballot voting system and even if MLAs vote contrary to the party line, they don't get disqualified as no party can issue whip in RS elections to its MLAs.

But attorney general K K Venugopal said the Centre supported the petition filed by Gujarat Congress party chief whip Shailesh Manubhai Parmar, who had rushed to the court in August last year on the eve of RS elections, given the defection of Congress MLAs to BJP and the touch-and-go situation for its prime candidate Ahmed Patel. Patel had scraped through by registering a narrow win.

After hearing senior advocate A M Singhvi for petitioner and EC counsel Amit Sharma, a bench of Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justices A M Khanwilkar and D Y Chandrachud said the SC judgment in the PUCL case was to give citizens the option of Nota in general elections.

Faulting the EC for extending Nota to RS elections, which is based on MLAs casting single transferable vote through proportional representation, the bench said: "EC appears to be extending its arms to areas where it is not necessary. Not voting in RS elections by an MLA is acceptable. But what we cannot tolerate is EC giving the MLAs the Nota option. An MLA is not voting for himself alone. His vote carries values and he cannot turn this value to zero by opting for Nota. By Nota, EC is legitimising the MLAs' decision to break ranks with party decision and discipline. " SC has reserved its verdict.

