The Supreme Court has dismissed a plea and imposed a cost of Rs one lakh on the petitioner, who sought to contest the Rajya Sabha polls without a proposer to recommend his name.
The Bench of Justice Hemant Gupta and Justice Sudhanshu Dhulia ruled that the right to contest an election does not come under either the fundamental rights, or common law rights. It was, in fact, a right conferred by a statute, noted the Court, adding that an individual cannot claim the right to contest elections.
It held that the requirement under the Representation of People Act, 1950 and the Conduct of Elections Rules, 1961 for the candidate’s name to be proposed while filling the nomination form could not be violative of his fundamental right.
As per the plea, a notification for election to Rajya Sabha was issued on May 12, 2022 to fill up the seats of retiring members retiring. The last date to submit the nomination form was May 31.
He alleged that he was disallowed from filing his nomination without a proposer proposing his name. The petitioner moved the Delhi High Court, which rejected his petition.
He then approached the Apex Court, claiming that his fundamental right to free speech and expression as well as right to personal liberty was being infringed.
The Supreme Court exemplified with the verdict in case of Rajbala vs State of Haryana in 2016, observing that the right to contest a seat in either the Lok Sabha or the Legislative Assembly was subject to certain constitutional restrictions and could be restricted further by a law made by Parliament.
The top court of the country gave the petitioner four weeks’ time to pay cost to the Supreme Court Legal Aid Committee.
Case title: Vishwanath Pratap Singh vs Election Commission of India