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Journalism of Courage
The Supreme Court today stayed the notification of the forthcoming Rajya Sabha elections to 65 seats on a petition challenging the law dispensing with the secret ballot and domicile requirement for the Upper House.
This issue many now escalate into a confrontation between Parliament and the Supreme Court as the Representation of the People (Amendment) Act, 2003, was passed on the basis of an all-party consensus.
The open ballot system was introduced to check instances of cross-voting that allegedly takes place during Rajya Sabha elections. The 2003 Act also sought to regularise the long-standing and widespread circumvention of the requirement of a Rajya Sabha candidate being ‘‘ordinarily a resident’’ of the state he is contesting from.
The amendements were objected to by journalist Kuldip Nayar, the petitioner , who had himself retired from the Rajya Sabha.
Issuing a notice to the Election Commission, a vacation bench comprising Justice Ruma Pal and Justice B N Agrawal ordered: ‘‘If the notification regarding the poll is not already issued, then it shall not be published in the gazette and if it is published in the gazette it shall not be given effect.’’
