NOTA can't be allowed in RS polls: Supreme Court
New Delhi, Aug 21 : The Supreme Court on Tuesday ruled that NOTA (None of the above) option cannot be allowed in the Rajya Sabha elections as it would "wholly undermine the purity of democracy".
"The option of NOTA may serve as an elixir in direct elections but in respect of election to Council of States which is a different one, it would wholly undermine the purity of democracy and also serve as the Satan of defection and corruption," said a bench of Chief Justice Dipak Misra, Justice A.M. Khanwilkar and Justice D.Y. Chandrachud.
Quashing a notification issued by the Election Commission introducing NOTA in Rajya Sabha elections, Chief Justice Misra speaking for the bench said: "The introduction of NOTA in indirect election may on the first glance tempt the intellect but on a keen scrutiny, it falls to the ground, for it completely ignores the role of an elector in such an election and fully destroys the democratic value."
"The idea may look attractive but its practical applications defeat the fairness ingrained in an indirect election," the court said.
"More so where the electors' vote has value and the value of that vote is transferable... It is an abstraction which does not withstand the scrutiny of the 'cosmos of correctness'," it added quoting Justice Krishna Iyer.
The apex court said it has to be remembered that "democracy garners its strength from the citizenry trust which is sustained only on the foundational pillars of purity, integrity, probity and rectitude and such strongholds can be maintained only by ensuring the the process of election remains unsullied and unpolluted so that the citadel of democracy stand still as an impregnable bulwark against unscrupulous forces".
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Cash-for-query case: SC stays Delhi HC order on sanction for CBI to try Moitra
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New Delhi (PTI): The Supreme Court on Friday stayed a part of the December 2025 order of the Delhi High Court permitting the Lokpal to consider granting sanction to the CBI to file a chargesheet against Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra in the alleged cash-for-query scam.
A bench comprising Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi issued notices to Moitra, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and BJP MP and complainant Nishikant Dubey on the Lokpal's plea against the high court order.
On December 19, 2025, the high court had set aside an order of the Lokpal granting sanction to the CBI to file a chargesheet against Moitra in the alleged cash-for-query scam.
"The learned Lokpal is requested to accord its consideration for grant of sanction under Section 20 of the Lokpal Act, strictly in accordance with provisions thereof as construed hereinabove, within a period of one month from today," the high court had said in para 89 of that judgement.
The CJI-led bench stayed the para 89 of the high court judgement while issuing notices on a batch of pleas related to power and procedures enumerated under Section 20 of the Lokpal Act.
The cash-for-query case pertains to the allegation that Moitra asked questions in the Lok Sabha in exchange for cash and gifts from a businessman.
The high court verdict had come on a plea by Moitra challenging the November 12, 2025, order of the Lokpal granting sanction to the CBI to file the chargesheet against her.
The Lokpal then moved the apex court after the high court set aside its order.
