New Delhi: The Supreme Court Tuesday directed all political parties to update information of their candidates with criminal backgrounds on the homepage of their websites and also asked the Election Commission of India (ECI) to create a mobile application with the same details.
A bench of Justices R.F. Nariman and B.R. Gavai said these two steps would “make the right of information of a voter more effective and meaningful,” giving voters the information about the candidates on their mobile phones.
The ECI was further directed to carry out awareness campaigns to make every voter aware of the “availability of information regarding criminal antecedents of contesting candidates”.
The directions were part of a judgment delivered by the bench on a contempt petition filed by a Delhi-based advocate alleging political parties had flouted the top court’s February 2020 verdict during the Bihar assembly polls, which mandated that parties must declare criminal antecedents of the candidates chosen to contest elections.
It also required parties to disclose the reason for finalising such a candidate, so that voters could make “informed” decisions while exercising their franchise. According to the order, parties had to publicise the antecedents of the candidates in a local daily, as well as a national newspaper.
Ruling on the contempt petition, the bench found nine out of 10 parties mentioned as contemnors in the petition guilty. It ordered six of them — the BJP, INC, RJD, CPI, LJP and Janta Dal — to deposit a fine of Rs 1 lakh, after the court concluded they had partially complied with its 2020 ruling. It imposed a fine of Rs 5 lakh each on two parties — the CPI(M) and NCP — because they had “completely flouted the directions”.
Also read: Declare criminal past of your candidates’ — Full text of SC order to political parties
‘Appeal to conscience of lawmakers’
On the ECI’s awareness campaign, the court said the poll panel must do it across various platforms, including social medial, websites, TV channels, prime time debates as well as distribute pamphlets.
The ECI has been asked to create a separate cell to monitor the required compliances. According to the judgment, it would be responsible for bringing to the court’s notice instances of non-compliance.
Tweaking its direction from the February 2020 verdict, the bench said political parties must publish criminal antecedents of selected candidates within 48 hours, and not prior to two weeks before the first date of filing of nominations.
“We reiterate that if such a political party fails to submit such compliance report with the ECI, the ECI shall bring such non-compliance by the political party to the notice of this court as being in contempt of this court’s orders and directions.”
The court repeated its concern over criminalisation of politics and the failure of the country’s lawmakers to “rise to the occasion and take steps for bringing out necessary amendments” to prohibit involvement of those with criminal background in polity.
“All these appeals have fallen on the deaf ears. The political parties refuse to wake up from deep slumber,” the court said.
In view of the constitutional scheme of separation of powers, the court added, it cannot “transgress into the area reserved for the legislative arm of the State.”
It can “only appeal to the “conscience of the lawmakers”, with the hope that “they will wake up soon and carry out a major surgery for weeding out the malignancy of criminalisation in politics”.
(Edited by Poulomi Banerjee)
Also read: Me Lord, use your time for something better: My response to SC order on criminals in politics