New Delhi, 26 April (HS): A bench headed by Supreme Court Chief Justice DY Chandrachud on Friday heard a petition seeking to consider NOTA (Nun of the Above) as a candidate to avoid the situation of winning the elections unopposed in Surat. After this the court has issued a notice to the Election Commission.

This petition has been filed by Shiv Kheda. Advocate Gopal Shankar Narayan, appearing for the petitioner, said that NOTA should be considered a candidate and if NOTA gets more votes than the winning candidate, then re-elections should be held there. During the hearing, there was mention of unopposed victory on Surat Lok Sabha seat. On behalf of the petitioner, it was said that if there was a system of making NOTA a candidate, there would not have been a chance of winning the election unopposed. Till now the votes received for NOTA have no significance.

Hindusthan Samachar/ Indrani/Manoj