Section 33(7) of RPA, 1951

Section 33(7) of RPA, 1951

News: Recently, the Supreme Court has rejected a petition to bar candidates from contesting from more than one constituency in the general or assembly elections, calling it a matter of “parliamentary sovereignty” and “political democracy”.

Background:
 The plea had challenged the constitutionality of Section 33(7) of the Representation of Peoples Act, 1951, citing that it is unreasonable for creating extra burden on the public exchequer as by-elections will invariably follow because candidates have to give up one seat in case, they win on both the seats.

What are the key details of the verdict?
 No relevant provision mentioned in RPA, 1951 that mandates intervention of Supreme Court and the matter strictly falls within legislative domain.
 It is parliament’s will that determines whether political democracy is furthered by granting such a choice.
 Contesting from multiple seats can be due to multiple reasons and there would be reasons which weigh in the balance and whether it furthers parliamentary democracy is something which is in the legislative domain.
 It highlighted that parliament did amend the law in 1996 to restrict the number of constituencies to two whereas earlier, a candidate could contest from any number of seats.
 The parliament has already intervened in the past. The parliament can certainly step in again. At the relevant time when the parliament deems it appropriate to do it, they will do it. There is no question of inaction on anybody’s part.

Issues around Twin candidature:
 Fighting election in multiple can create conflict of interest.
 Waste of resources, money and valuable time of people.
 Creates confusion of among voters regarding whom to vote for.
 Running in multiple constituencies can also raise questions about the candidate's motivation and create the perception of corruption, as they may be seeking multiple seats in order to increase their chances of winning office.

Way Forward
 The Election Commission recommended amending Section 33(7) on multiple occasions so as to allow one candidate to contest from only one seat.
 Now is the right time to modify and expand the principle of electoral democracy to “One person, one vote; one candidate, one constituency.”