New Delhi, August 3 : In a setback to the Congress, the Supreme Court on Thursday refused to stay the use “None of the above” (NOTA) option in the August 8 Rajya Sabha polls in Gujarat.  A Bench headed by Justice Dipak Misra said wondered why the party decided to challenge the Election Commission’s NOTA decision after more than three years and just before the polls. “Why are you so late in raising the question? The EC issued the NOTA notification in January 2014,” the Bench told senior counsel Kapil Sibal who contended that NOTA would lead to corruption as there were four candidates for three Rajya Sabha seats in Gujarat. “When the notification was issued you didn’t act upon… because it was not prejudice to you…so you remained silent…when it suited you, you didn’t come. You come here on the eve of election,” the Bench told Sibal, who represented the Gujarat Congress. As the Bench asked the petitioner if he was not sure of his members, Sibal said: “It’s not a question of who wins or loses. If you don’t stay NOTA, it will let people purchase votes.” However, noting that the petition raised a constitutional issue, the Bench asked the EC to respond to the petition in two weeks and posted the matter for hearing on September 13. The Centre sought to distance itself from the controversy as Attorney General KK Venugopal told the Bench that it was EC’s decision and the Government didn’t have anything to do with it.