NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Thursday ordered political parties to publish the criminal antecedents of their candidates for Assembly and Lok Sabha polls, along with detailed reasons that made them choose those with criminal records over other candidates, within 48 hours of the selection of the same.
A bench comprising Justices RF Nariman and S Ravindra Bhatt said, "It shall be mandatory for political parties (central and state level) to upload on their website detailed information regarding individuals with pending criminal cases (including the nature of the offences, and relevant particulars such as whether charges have been framed, the concerned court, the case number) who have been selected as candidates, along with the reasons for such selection, as also as to why other individuals without criminal antecedents could not be selected as candidates."
Taking note of the rising criminalisation of politics, the bench said, “The reasons as to selection shall be with reference to the qualifications, achievements and merit of the candidate concerned, and not mere winnability at the polls.” According to election watchdog ADR, 43 (61%) of the 70 new Delhi MLAs have declared criminal cases against them.
In 2004, nearly 25 per cent of the Members of Parliament had criminal cases pending against them; in 2009, that went up to 30 per cent; in 2014 to 34 per cent; and in 2019, a whopping 43 per cent of MPs had criminal cases against them.
The top court also directed political parties to publish all the details within 48 hours of the selection of the candidate or two weeks before the first date for filing of nominations, whichever is earlier. The court also ordered political parties to publish such information in one local newspaper and one national newspaper besides the official social media platforms of the party.
"The political party shall submit a report of compliance with these directions with the Election Commission within 72 hours of the selection of the candidate. If a political party fails to submit such a report, then the EC shall bring such non-compliance by the political party concerned to the notice of the Supreme Court as being in contempt of this court’s order," the judgment stated.
The verdict comes on contempt petitions filed by lawyer Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay and others. In September 2018, a five-judge constitution bench had asked the central government to immediately enact laws to ban those involved in serious crimes from contesting elections and becoming party officials.
BJP leader and lawyer Ashwini Upadhyay had filed a contempt petition against the central government and the Election Commission, alleging no serious efforts were made to stop the criminalisation of politics despite the court order.