Supreme Court To Hear Plea To Debar Poll Candidates Charged For Serious Offences On Mar 18

The Supreme Court is set to hear a plea on March 18 that seeks to bar candidates charged with serious offences from contesting elections.

Hearing & Legal Proceedings

A bench comprising Justices Surya Kant and N Kotiswar Singh will likely hear the matter. The apex court had previously, in September 2022, sought responses from the Centre and the Election Commission of India (ECI) on the plea, which was filed by advocate Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay.

The petition seeks a directive to prevent individuals facing criminal charges from contesting elections. It also urges the Centre and the ECI to take steps to restrain candidates who are on trial for serious offences.

Concerns Over Criminalisation Of Politics

Filed through advocate Ashwani Kumar Dubey, the plea alleges that despite recommendations from the Law Commission of India and previous court directions, no concrete action has been taken by the Centre and the ECI.

The petition highlights alarming statistics from the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, where 233 out of 539 winning candidates (43%) declared criminal cases against themselves. Citing data from a report by the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR), it points out a 109% increase in the number of MPs with serious criminal cases since 2009.

One MP reportedly declared 204 criminal cases, including culpable homicide, house trespass, robbery, and criminal intimidation.

The plea claims that political parties are in a race to the bottom, competing to recruit candidates with criminal records because they cannot afford to let their rivals gain an advantage.

It further argues that the criminalisation of politics is causing severe harm to the public, as parties continue to field candidates with serious criminal antecedents.

With the upcoming hearing, the Supreme Court’s decision could have significant implications for the future of electoral politics in India.

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