New Delhi: The Supreme Court has declined to review its judgment upholding the constitutional validity of an August 2003 amendment to the Representation of the People Act dispensing with the domicile requirement for getting elected to the Rajya Sabha.

A five-judge Constitution Bench, headed by Chief Justice Y.K. Sabharwal, also upheld another amendment introducing the open ballot system, instead of secret ballot, for the Rajya Sabha elections.

Kuldip Nayar, former Rajya Sabha MP, filed a petition seeking review of the August 22 judgment.

The same Bench, which included Justices K.G. Balakrishnan, S.H. Kapadia, C.K. Thakker and P.K. Balasubramanyan, dismissed his petition in the chamber.

The August 22 judgment said "there is no requirement in the law that the person elected must possess the same qualifications as the elector possesses and so there is no merit in the plea that the representative of the State, elected by the Assembly, must also be an ordinary resident of the State just because the electorate are required by the law to be so."

On the open ballot system, the Bench said the amendment had been brought in to avoid cross voting and eliminate corruption as also to maintain the integrity of the democratic set-up.

Mr. Nayar, in his review petition, said the interpretation given by the Bench "suffers from [posing] a grave danger, when read with other portions of the judgment, to the very foundation of democracy, which sustains our country."

He said the mere fact that the Council of Ministers was not responsible to the Rajya Sabha in that even if it lost the confidence of the House it could continue did not in anyway make the Rajya Sabha secondary especially in view of some of the exclusive powers the House enjoyed.

The entire House might become the "monopoly of the people from one State as the representatives will be chosen on the dictates of a political party under the so-called political discipline" or money and muscle power would determine entry into the Rajya Sabha.

Mr. Nayar said the secrecy of ballot should be maintained to ensure free and fair elections.

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