The Supreme Court rejected the petition, which requested to ban candidates from contesting elections from more than one constituency simultaneously.

Court said, candidates can contest from different seats due to various reasons

Said that it is a matter of ‘Legislative Policy’. A bench headed by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud said that candidates can contest from different seats for various reasons. The bench also included Justice PS Narasimha and Justice JB Pardiwala. The bench was hearing a petition filed by advocate Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay, wherein Section of the Representation of the People Act, 1951 (7) illegal and out of the ambit of the constitution Request to declare out was made.

Section of the Representation of the People Act, 1951 (7) Allows a person to contest elections from two constituencies Permission

Representation of the People Act, 1951 ) section of 19(7) a Allows a person to contest from two constituencies in either a general election or a number of bye-elections or biennial elections. The bench said, allowing candidates to contest from more than one seat is a matter of legislative policy as giving such an option to advance political democracy in the country ultimately depends on the will of the Parliament. This argument was given in the petition

Senior advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan appeared in the court on behalf of Upadhyay argued that if a candidate contests from two seats and wins both, then he has to give up one seat after which by-elections are necessary and the exchequer is burdened. He said that before an amendment made in , there was no limit on the number of seats for the candidates to contest. . In this amendment, this number was limited to two. The bench said that it is for the Parliament to decide whether a candidate can contest from more than one seat or not.

Supreme CourtelectionPublished Date

Thu, Feb 2, 2023, 5: 54 PM IST