SC Orders Political Parties To Reveal Details Of Tainted Candidates

New Delhi: In a landmark judgement, the Supreme Court of India has ordered all political parties to give details of tainted candidates with a criminal background. The apex court has directed political outfits to put out data on all such candidates on their websites.

The Supreme Court judgement marks an important step towards decriminalisation of politics. The court was of the view that winnability of a candidate cannot be the sole criterion for selecting a criminal to contest an election. Parties have been ordered to justify the selection of tainted candidates.

Details of all candidates will have to be listed as to whether there is any case filed against them and the information submitted to the Election Commission. Political parties and candidates will also have to give details with regard to there to any criminal cases against them on social media platforms within 48 hours of filing their nomination forms.

Parties and candidates would also have to do so in the vernacular press as well as English media. The apex court has also ordered candidates to submit details relating to criminal cases against them to the Election Commission within 72 hours of filing nominations.

An important facet of the Supreme Court order, according to legal experts, is that the EC has been asked to implement this order which would mean that political parties which do not comply with this apex court directive would stand in contempt of court

Several public interest litigation petitions (PILs) had been filed on decriminalisation of politics. Petitioners have demanded wider disclosure from political parties on the criminal antecedents of the candidates fielded by them in elections.