Is requiring ten proposers for a non-party candidate under Section 33, RP Act discriminatory?

No. The requirement lies purely in the realm of legislative policy and there is nothing per se discriminatory in the provision. Parliament is entitled to regulate the manner in which nomination papers should be presented and the requirements for a valid nomination.

Conduct of Election Rules 1961 — r.39-AA — Representation of the People Act 1951 — s.33 — Constitution of India — Art.80(4) — Open ballot — Council of States — Cross-voting — Conduct of Election Rules 1961 — r.39-AA — Open ballot regulates, does not remove, the vote — Held: The open ballot in elections to the Council of States does not take away the right to vote but regulates it to eliminate cross-voting; only an elector who refuses to show the marked ballot to his party’s authorised agent forfeits the vote. (¶11, 13) Constitutional challenge — Availability of a less restrictive alternative — Held further: That an alternate means could subserve the same end does not make a Rule unconstitutional. The Rule does not foreclose the exercise of the right to vote; cancellation follows only the elector’s own refusal to disclose. (¶16) Representation of the People Act 1951 — s.33 proviso — Ten proposers for a non-party candidate — Held further: The requirement that a candidate not set up by a recognised political party be proposed by ten electors lies purely in the realm of legislative policy and is not per se discriminatory. Petition dismissed. (¶19, 20)

One judgment a day. That's the whole habit.

Read the full text of Lok Prahari v. Union of India & Ors. — and get the Supreme Court's output as a five-minute daily read, with plain-language headnotes and the questions each judgment settles.

Free forever plan · 30 seconds · data stays in India