Kuldip Nayar case
Also called: Kuldip Nayar v. Union of India (2006) · Topic: Elections and the Electoral System · NCERT: Beyond NCERT
Meaning
Kuldip Nayar v. Union of India (2006) is a Supreme Court judgment that upheld two 2003 changes to Rajya Sabha elections. The first introduced the open ballot, under which a party MLA must show the marked ballot to the party's agent. The second removed the rule that a Rajya Sabha candidate must live in the state they represent. The Court also repeated that the right to vote and the right to contest are statutory rights, meaning rights given by ordinary law, not fundamental rights.
Example
After this ruling, a person who does not live in a state can still be elected to the Rajya Sabha from it. Party MLAs continue to show their marked ballots to the party's authorised agent.
Don't confuse with
- Shailesh Manubhai Parmar case (2018): this case dealt with a different Rajya Sabha issue. It held that NOTA cannot be used in Rajya Sabha polls.
Related concepts
- Single transferable vote
- Electoral quota
- Election of Rajya Sabha members
- Open ballot
- Shailesh Manubhai Parmar case
- Cross-voting
- Presidential and Vice-Presidential Elections Act 1952