Taking into account the increasing degree of criminalization of politics, the Supreme Court (SC) on Thursday directed all political parties to upload details of pending criminal cases of candidates contesting polls on their websites.

The court also said that the parties would have to also upload on their website the reasons for selecting candidates with pending criminal cases against them. Justice Rohinton Fali Nariman delivered the judgement that stated, “The reasons as to selection shall be with reference to the qualifications, achievements and merit of the candidate concerned, and not mere “winnability” at the polls.”

The judgement pointed out that over the last four general elections, there had been an alarming increase in the incidence of criminals in politics. In 2004, 24% of the MPs had criminal cases pending against them; in 2009 the number went up to 30% and in 2019, 43% of MPs were found with criminal charges registered against them. The court also asked the political parties to offer an explanation as to why candidates with pending criminal cases were selected in the first place. 

The SC order states that apart from putting up the information of criminal cases of candidates on websites, they have will have to issue a declaration in widely circulated newspapers (one local vernacular and one national newspaper) in the locality about the antecedents of the candidate (at least thrice after filing of the nomination papers) and also give wide publicity in the electronic media. The SC also asked the political parties to submit a report of compliance with these directions with the Election Commission (EC) within 72 hours of the selection of the said candidate, failing which the EC shall bring such non-compliance by the political party concerned to the notice of the SC as being in contempt of the Court’s directions.

Post the SC order, the EC said that it wholeheartedly welcomed the order and would make relevant modifications to implement the court’s directives. The EC in a press release said, “Election Commission whole-heartedly welcomes this landmark order, which is bound to go a long way in setting new moral yardsticks for overall betterment of electoral democracy.”

In order to help the voters make a more informed choice, the EC is working on a revamped affidavit that will have a separate category to list heinous cases like murder, rape, rioting, etc. against candidates, reported the Economic Times. An EC official told ET, “At present, all crimes are bunched in the affidavit, whether it may be a case that attracts a year’s imprisonment or seven. We feel that the gravity of the crime involved must be highlighted, as the Supreme Court also instructed. So we are working on a framework which will classify heinous crimes separately. This will give voters a more informed choice.”

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No more than 6% of criminal cases against India’s MPs and MLAs ended in conviction, according to data submitted by the Centre to the Supreme Court.

Of 3,884 such cases–conviction for which results in a six-year ban from contesting elections–guilty judgements were pronounced in 38 and 560 were acquitted, the Centre told the Supreme Court on September 11, 2018.

Source: Centre’s affidavit in Supreme Court, dated September 11, 2018

In 18 of 29 states and two of seven union territories, there were no convictions for criminal cases against MPs and MLAs; the cases include murder, attempt to murder, kidnapping, hate speech and criminal intimidation.

The highest number of acquittals were in Kerala (147 acquittals, 8 convictions), Tamil Nadu (68 acquitals, 3 convictions) and Bihar (48 acquittals, 0 convictions).

The highest number of convictions were in Orissa (10), Kerala (8) and Uttar Pradesh (5).

The affidavit was submitted during a hearing of a two-year-old public interest litigation, which demanded a life ban for politicians convicted in criminal cases. On December 14, 2017, the court ordered the Centre to set up 12 special courts to deal with such cases, asking the courts to start working from March 1, 2018.

With a budget of Rs 7.8 crore, courts were established in Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Bihar, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal and two special courts in the National Capital Territory of Delhi. The other 19 states and one union territory were to fast-track pending cases.

Six months after the March deadline, 40% (1,233) of these cases were transferred to the special courts, of which judgements were pronounced in 136 (11%); 89% (1,097) cases so transferred are pending.

Source: Centre’s affidavit in Supreme Court, dated September 11, 2018
Note: The notification to set up a special court in Tamil Nadu was issued on September 6, 2018, and the special court in Uttar Pradesh started working from August 21, 2018. Transfer of cases to both these courts continues.

The highest number of pending cases among the states where special courts were set up was in Bihar (249), followed by West Bengal (226) and Kerala (233).

In Kerala and West Bengal, only one case each has been disposed. In Uttar Pradesh, which had the highest number of cases (565), the special court started functioning on August 21, 2018. In Tamil Nadu, where 402 cases were filed against legislators, the notification for the special court was issued on September 6, 2018.

Source: Centre’s affidavit in Supreme Court, dated March 12, 2018

*Data for Maharashtra and Goa sourced from Centre’s affidavit in Supreme Court, dated September 11, 2018

These cases should be fast-tracked, especially as four state elections (Mizoram, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh) and the Lok Sabha elections will be conducted over the next eight months, Major General Anil Verma (Retired), National Coordinator of Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR), an advocacy, told IndiaSpend.

In 2014, ADR, along with National Election Watch (NEW), a campaign comprising of 1,200 non-governmental organisations working on electoral reforms, analysed the self-sworn affidavits of 542 of 543 winners in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections and found that a candidate with a criminal background was almost twice more likely to win than a candidate with no criminal background. The winning chances of a candidate with criminal background were 13%, while those of a candidate with no criminal background were 5%.

“People feel these legislators with criminal backgrounds have clout, and they are able to get work done from bureaucrats or lower level functionaries of the government,” said Verma, “In rural areas, people do not give too much importance to criminal cases. They think, ‘if he gets our work done, it is okay, we will vote for him.’”  

The petition in the Supreme Court argued that current provisions of the Representatives of People’s Act (1951) for convicted legislators are not enough. The petitioner and a spokesperson of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, Ashwini Upadhyay, told IndiaSpend that a ban for six years is not enough.

“The bar for legislators has to be set higher than that for other civil servants,” said Upadhyay. “Civil servants are suspended the moment the police files a chargesheet against them and are allowed to resume work only when the court acquits them. But so many politicians continue to hold posts despite several cases against them, including those of rape, kidnapping, murder and hate speech.”

An analysis by ADR in April 2018 found that 48 legislators had criminal cases filed against them for crimes against women. In another report released in April 2018, ADR found 58 legislators have cases registered against them on charges related to hate speech.

(Shreya Raman is a data analyst at IndiaSpend.)

Courtesy: India Spend

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As for wealth, 35 UP ministers are ‘crorepatis’, while Punjab has nine.

UP Election Watch and Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) has analysed the self-sworn affidavits of 44 out of 47 ministers from the state assembly.

Three ministers namely Dinesh Sharma, Swatantra Dev Singh and Mohsin Raza have not been analysed due to unavailability of data. Dinesh Sharma is a mayor whereas the other two are not currently members of either any house, UP state assembly or legislative council.

“Out of the 44 ministers, 35 (80 per cent) are crorepatis. The average assets of 44 ministers is Rs 5.34 crore,” Delhi-based ADR said in a report released today.

Besides, it said, 20 (45 per cent) ministers have declared criminal cases against them.

It listed the charges against them that included robbery, theft, forgery and voluntarily causing hurt.

The minister with the highest declared total assets is Nand Gopal Gupta Nandi from Allahabad South constituency with assets worth Rs 57.11 crore, it said.

Chief Minister Adityanath has total assets worth over Rs 71 lakh, while deputy CM Keshav Prasad has total assets of over Rs 9 crore, the report added.

A total of 28 ministers have declared liabilities out of which the minister with the highest liabilities is Nand Gopal Gupta Nandi (Rs 26.02 crore).

On education details, it said, a total of seven (16 per cent) ministers have declared their qualification to be between 10th and 12th pass, while 37 (84 pc) are graduates or have higher degrees.

A total of 18 (41 pc) ministers have declared their age to be between 25-50 years, while 26 (59 pc) between 51-80 years.

Out of 44 ministers, only five are women.

On Punjab, ADR said out of the 10 ministers, nine (90 pc) are crorepatis.

“The average assets of 10 ministers is Rs 34.54 crore.

The minister with the highest declared total assets is Rana Gurjit Singh from Kapurthala constituency with assets worth Rs 169.89 crore,” it said.

Chief Minister Amarinder Singh has total assets worth over Rs 48 crore, the report showed.

A total of eight ministers have declared liabilities out of which the minister with the highest liabilities is Rana Gurjit Singh (Rs 81.71 crore).

As per the report, a total of 6 (60 pc) ministers are graduates or have higher degrees, while four have qualification between 10th pass and 12th pass.

All 10 ministers have declared their age to be between 50-75 years. Of these, only two are women.

Courtesy: Janta Ka Reporter

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चुनाव आयोग की ओर से पेश वरिष्ठ वकील मीनाक्षी अरोड़ा ने चीफ जस्टिस टीएस ठाकुर की अध्यक्षता वाली तीन सदस्यीय पीठ के सामने यह दलीलें पेश कीं। मीनाक्षी अरोड़ा ने पीठ से कहा कि इस चरण में जाकर चुनाव आयोग का काम आता है और उस खास रिक्त सीट का चुनाव कार्यक्रम घोषित होता है। पीठ उस स्थिति के बारे में जानना चाहती थी जब निचली अदालत के आदेश पर रोक या निलंबन होगा।
 
आपको बता दें कि सुप्रीम कोर्ट ने 10 जुलाई, 2013 को आदेश जारी कर कहा था कि आपराधिक कृत्य के लिए दोषी करार दिए जाने पर किसी निर्वाचित जनप्रतिनिधि को तत्काल आयोग्य घोषित कर दिया जाय।
 
इस पीठ में न्यायमूर्ति डीवाई चंद्रचूड़ और न्यायमूर्ति एल नागेश्वर राव भी शामिल थे। जब पीठ ने अतिरिक्त सालिसिटर जनरल मनिंदर सिंह से मदद मांगी तो सिंह ने कहा कि विधिनिर्माता को उस सूरत में राहत मिल सकती है अगर ऊपरी अदालत दोष सिद्धि पर रोक लगाती है या निलंबित करती है लेकिन केवल सजा पर निलंबन दोषी सांसदों या विधायकों की मदद नहीं कर पाएगा।
 
बेंच ने पूछा कि अगर निचली अदालत के आदेश पर ऊपरी अदालत रोक लगा दे तो क्या होगा? इस पर एडिशनल सॉलिसीटर जनरल मनिंदर सिंह ने कहा, ‘ऊपरी अदालत सांसद-विधायक को बरी कर देती है तो उसे राहत मिल सकती है। पर केवल सजा पर निलंबन दोषी सांसदों या विधायकों की मदद नहीं कर पाएगा। सुप्रीम कोर्ट ने आयोग से इस मामले में 4 हफ्ते में हलफनामा दायर करने को कहा।

Courtesy: National Dastak

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