"Publish Details Of Criminal Cases Against Candidates On Websites & Social Media": SC To Political Parties

It directed that the EC shall bring it to the notice of the apex court in case of failure of political parties to comply with its directions.

Representational Picture (PTI)

New Delhi: Taking cognisance of rise in criminalisation in politics, the Supreme Court on Thursday directed political parties to upload details of criminal cases against poll candidates on their websites and also list out the reasons for selecting them. The court passed orders on a contempt plea which raised the issue of criminalisation of politics claiming that directions given by the apex court in its September 2018 verdict relating to disclosure of criminal antecedents by candidates are not being followed. A bench headed by Justice F Nariman also directed that political parties will publish these details on social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter and in one local vernacular and one national newspaper. The top court said political parties will have to submit a compliance report in this regard to the Election Commission within 72 hours of selecting candidates having pending criminal cases against them. It directed that the EC shall bring it to the notice of the apex court in case of failure of political parties to comply with its directions. While pronouncing the order, the bench said it appears that there has been an alarming increase in criminalisation of politics in the last four general elections. This is not for the first time the apex court has taken the matter seriously, it had in 2018 asked the Parliament to “cure the malignancy” of criminalisation of politics by making a law to ensure that persons facing serious criminal cases do not enter the political arena as the “polluted stream of politics” needs to be cleansed. (With additional information from PTI)