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Onus on Parliament to bar persons facing charges from polls
The Supreme Court on Tuesday directed political parties to publish online the pending criminal cases of their candidates and urged Parliament to bring a “strong law” to cleanse political parties of leaders facing trial for serious crimes. Rapid criminalisation of politics cannot be arrested by merely disqualifying tainted legislators but should begin by “cleansing” political parties, a five-judge Constitution Bench, led by Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra, observed.
Onus on Parliament
The court said Parliament should frame a law that makes it obligatory for political parties to remove leaders charged with “heinous and grievous” crimes, such as rape, murder and kidnapping, to name only a few, and refuse ticket to offenders in both parliamentary and Assembly polls. “The nation eagerly awaits such a legislation,” the court told Parliament. The Bench, also comprising Justices A.M. Khanwilkar, Rohinton Nariman, D.Y. Chandrachud and Indu Malhotra, however, made it clear that the court cannot legislate for Parliament by introducing disqualification to ban candidates facing trial for heinous crimes from contesting elections. The 100-page judgment, written by Chief Justice Misra, who has just days left for his retirement on October 2, issued a slew of directions.
Full disclosures
The court directed that candidates should divulge their criminal past to the Election Commission in “block letters.” Candidates should make a full disclosure of the criminal cases pending against them to the political parties under whose banner they intend to contest the polls. The parties, in turn, should put up the complete details of their candidates on their websites for public consumption.
Source : https://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/enact-strong-law-to-cleanse-politics-sc/article25043259.ece
