In Special Leave to Appeal(C) No.13013/2022-SC- Right to contest election is neither fundamental right nor common law right: SC
Justices Hemant Gupta & Sudhanshu Dhulia [09-09-2022]

Read Order: VISHWANATH PRATAP SINGH VERSUS ELECTION COMMISSION OF INDIA & ANR

Mansimran Kaur

New Delhi, September 13, 2022: An individual cannot claim that he has a right to contest election and the said stipulation violates his fundamental right, so as to file his nomination without any proposer as is required under the Representation of People Act, 1950, the Apex Court has observed. 

The Division bench of Justice Hemant  Gupta and Justice Sudhanshu Dhulia dismissed the  present special leave petition  which preferred to assail  an order passed by the High Court of Delhi on June 10, 2022 whereby a writ petition filed by the petitioner claiming a mandamus to decide the candidature of the petitioner to file his nomination for Rajya Sabha Elections 2022, was dismissed. 

The Division bench was of the view that the right to contest an election is neither a fundamental right nor a common law right. 

The petitioner filed a writ petition before Delhi High Court raising a grievance that a notification for election to Rajya Sabha was issued on May 12, 2022 to fill up the seats of members retiring from June 21, 20222 to August 1, 2022.  The last date for submission of the nomination was May 31, 2022. 

The stand of the petitioner was that he collected nomination form but was not allowed to file his nomination without a proper proposer proposing his name. The petitioner sought his candidature without proposer which was not accepted and, therefore, he claims that his fundamental right of free speech and expression and right to personal liberty have been infringed. 

After considering the submissions of the parties, the Court noted that the petition before the High Court was entirely misconceived and so was the present special leave petition. “The right to contest an election is neither a fundamental right nor a common law right”, the Court noted.  Reliance was placed on the case of Javed v. State of Haryana and  Rajbala v. State of Haryana. 

In view of the same, the Court noted that the petitioner did not have any right to contest election to the Rajya Sabha in terms of the law made by the Parliament. The Representation of People Act, 1950 read with the Conduct of Elections Rules, 1961 had contemplated the name of a candidate to be proposed while filling the nomination form.

Hence, the Court concluded by observing that  “...an individual cannot claim that he has a right to contest election and the said stipulation violates his fundamental right, so as to file his nomination without any proposer as is required under the Act”. In view of the said fact,   the present special leave petition was dismissed.