NOTA cannot be introduced in Rajya Sabha elections where open ballot, proportional representation, and party discipline govern voting.

NOTA could not be extended to elections to the Council of States because that electoral process is materially different from direct elections. In Rajya Sabha polls, members vote by proportional representation through the single transferable vote, with an open-ballot regime designed to preserve party discipline and prevent cross-voting. The earlier right-not-to-vote reasoning applied to direct, constituency-based elections and could not be transposed to this indirect constitutional scheme. The Election Commission's power under Article 324 had to operate within enacted law and could not create a voting option the statute and Constitution did not contemplate. The impugned circulars were therefore unconstitutional and without authority in law.

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Issues: Whether the option of NOTA could be introduced for elections to the Council of States and whether the Election Commission's circulars providing for NOTA in such elections were within constitutional and statutory power.

Analysis: Elections to the Council of States are held by the elected members of the Legislative Assembly of a State by proportional representation through the single transferable vote. The scheme is materially different from a direct, constituency-based election. In such indirect elections, the elector casts a vote with quantified value, surpluses are transferable, and the process is governed by open ballot to preserve party discipline and prevent cross-voting. The earlier decision recognising a right not to vote and directing a NOTA button was rendered in the context of direct elections, where secrecy of the individual vote and the voter's choice against candidates are central. That reasoning could not be transposed to Rajya Sabha elections, because the constitutional structure under Article 80(4), the open-ballot regime, and the anti-defection framework under the Tenth Schedule make NOTA inconsistent with the statutory and constitutional scheme. The Election Commission's power under Article 324 must operate within the limits of enacted law and cannot create a voting option that the legal framework does not contemplate.

Conclusion: NOTA could not be validly applied to elections to the Council of States, and the impugned circulars were unconstitutional and without authority in law.

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