EC for ban on 2-seat contest

New Delhi: The EC on Monday informed the Supreme Court that it favoured the proposal to bar a candidate from contesting in two Assembly/ parliamentary constituencies during elections. Counsel for the Commission made this submission before a bench of Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justices A.M. Kanwilkar and D.Y. Chandrachud, on a PIL

The Election Commission on Monday informed the Supreme Court that it favoured the proposal to bar a candidate from contesting in two Assembly/Parliamentary constituencies during elections.

Counsel for the commission made this submission before a bench of Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justices A.M. Khanwilkar and D.Y. Chandrachud, hearing a PIL seeking a ban to this effect.

Counsel said the EC had made a proposal to the government in 2004 and 2016 to amend the provisions of Representation of the People Act and it was for the Centre to act on the proposal.

The bench while accepting the EC’s submission asked the petitioner Ashwini Kumar Upadhyaya to serve a copy on the Attorney General K.K. Venugopal, who was asked to assist the court.

The petitioner said ‘One Person One Vote and One Candidate One Constituency’ is the dictum of democracy. However, as per the law, as it stands today, a person can contest the election for the same office from two constituencies simultaneously.