Parliament must make laws to keep Criminals away from politics: Telangana Elections 231 candidates have Crime record

Hyderabad: The Supreme Court in September had laid down certain guidelines in an attempt to curb corruption in politics and ensure that voters are able to make an informed choice.

The Supreme Court refuses to bar candidates facing criminal charges from contesting elections, leaving the matter in the hands of parliament, political parties and politicians. Putting the onus of creating a law to ban people with criminal cases from contesting polls on parliament, the SC bench, headed by CJI Dipak Mishra had said the sooner the better, before it becomes fatal to democracy.

The need for such a law is evident again as at least 231 candidates contesting in the Telangana Assembly elections have serious criminal cases. Including Murder, Kidnapping and crimes against women- registered against them. An analysis of affidavits of 1,777 candidates from various parties, done by Delhi based NGO, association for Democratic Reforms( ADR) has found that 368 candidates have criminal cases against them. All cases are pending with police stations.