Plea to ban candidates from contesting more than 1 seat dismissed

SC refused to entertain a plea seeking to restrain politicians from contesting elections for the same office from more than one constituency.

A bench of CJI DY Chandrachud and justices PS Narasimha and JB Pardiwala observed that permitting a candidate to contest from more than one seat would enable him or her to attempt and become a "pan-India" leader.

The plea was filed by BJP leader and advocate Ashwini Upadhyay. The bench made it clear that the issue at hand was a matter of 'legislative policy' and there was nothing unconstitutional in contesting from more than one constituency. The bench observed that it was "Parliament's will" as to whether parliamentary democracy would be furthered by granting such a choice.


The petitioner had sought directions to the central government and the Election Commission to restrict a person from contesting for the same office from different constituencies. Speaking for the bench, the CJI verbally remarked: "When you contest from two seats you are not sure you will be elected from both the seats. This is done for a variety of reasons. What is wrong about it? This is political democracy."