New Delhi, July 23 - The Supreme Court Thursday refused to grant an urgent hearing to a lawsuit challenging the Election Commission's decision to hold separately - through three separate ballot papers - the Aug 10 by-elections for three Rajya Sabha vacancies from Maharashtra.

The three vacancies have come up as Rajya Sabha members Supriya Sule, Sushil Kumar Shinde and Praful Patel have been elected to the Lok Sabha in May.

A bench of Chief Justice K.G. Balakrishnan, Justice P. Sathasivam and Justice B.S. Chauhan said the matter has already been listed for hearing Aug 3.

'There is no urgency involved in the matter,' said the bench, adding that even otherwise the election is to be held Aug 10.

The lawsuit was filed by Suresh Rahul Nawrekar, a probable Shiv Sena candidate who contended that the decision to hold the three elections separately through separate ballot papers negate the spirit of the article 84 of the constitution, which lays down the principle of proportional representation through single transferable votes for the Rajya Sabha elections.

Appearing for Nawrekar, senior counsel M.N. Krishnamani argued that this principle was actually laid down to ensure that a state is represented in the upper house in proportion to its different section of the population.

And, accordingly, even the parties with less members in the state legislatures are able to elect their candidates for the Rajya Sabha, he said.

But that is possible, said Krishnamani, only when the elections for all the casual vacancies, numbering more than one, are held together through a single ballot paper, giving each member of the state legislature an opportunity to cast 'his single vote' to chose from among the several candidates in the fray.