The Supreme Court on Thursday refused to stay an Election Commission notification to introduce the "None of the Above" (NOTA) option for the coming Rajya Sabha elections in Gujarat.

A bench of Justice Dipak Misra, Justice Amitava Roy and Justice A.M. Khanwilkar issued a notice to the poll panel for September 13 to examine the constitutional validity of the notification.

"Why did you (petitioner) move the court so late? When it suited you, you did not come. You come here on eve of elections," said the bench.

The Chief whip of the Congress in the Gujarat Assembly, Shailesh Manubhai Parmar, moved the court seeking quashing of the August 1 circular introducing NOTA for the August 8 election.