Parties get 48 hours to publish candidates’ criminal records

Parties get 48 hours to publish candidates’ criminal records

Part of: GS Prelims and GS- II- Elections

In news The Supreme Court recently warned Parliament that the nation is losing patience with the advent of criminals in politics.

• It also imposed fines on major political parties for covering up from voters the criminal past of the candidates they had fielded in the Bihar Assembly polls last year.

Key Points

• The court had directed political parties to publish the criminal history, if any, of their election candidates on the homepage of their party websites under the caption ‘candidates with criminal antecedents’ within 48 hours of their selection

• In Public Interest Foundation and Ors. v. Union of India, 2018 judgment, SC had also directed them to prominently publish the criminal antecedents of their candidates in newspapers and on social media accounts, including Twitter and Facebook. Political parties had flouted this judgement
• In a series of directions to make the right of information of a voter “more effective and meaningful”, the court further ordered the Election Commission of India to launch a dedicated mobile app for voters to get details of the criminal history of the candidates at the touch of a button. 
• The Commission should also form a separate cell to monitor political parties on their compliance with the court’s judgment.

News Source: TH