By Vineet Malik | April 9, 2024 | London, England
Candidates with criminal background gets go-ahead to contest elections to govern the country in defiance of the orders ruled by the top court of India
A comprehensive report on “Analysis of Criminal Background, Financial, Education, Gender and other Details of Candidates” released yesterday by the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) in light of upcoming Lok Sabha Elections Phase 1 2024 elections, finds political parties in breach of directions passed by the Supreme Court (SC).
Wilful and Deliberate Contempt of 4 Orders ruled by the SC
To deter the blatant practice of giving tickets to candidates with criminal background, the SC passed four orders on 25 March 2014, 1 November 2017, 25 September 2018 and 13 February 2020. So far, none of the orders have been complied with.
The orders primarily focused on Trial to be conducted within one year, Special 11 Fast Track Courts, Publication of Criminal Cases and Reasons for giving tickets to candidates with Criminal Cases.
The SC headed by Justice Rohinton Fali Nariman and Justice B.R. Gavai on 20 July 2021 while hearing the contempt petition against the political parties for selection of candidates with criminal cases by political parties stated “We are certain that the legislative branch will not take this forward, not only in the foreseeable future but at any time in the future.”
Evidently, all political parties in India are brazenly defiant to bring accountability, transparency and fairness in the electoral process.
The five-judge constitution bench of the SC headed by the Chief Justice Deepak Misra, Justices Rohinton Fali Nariman, A.M. Khanwilkar, D.Y. Chandrachud and Indu Malhotra on 25 September 2018 in the matter of Public Interest Foundation vs. Union of India stated
“The constitutional functionaries who have taken the pledge to uphold the constitutional principles are charged with the responsibility to ensure that existing political framework does not get tainted with the evil of corruption. However, despite this heavy mandate prescribed by the constitution, our Indian democracy which is the world’s largest democracy has seen a steady increase in the level of criminalization that has been creeping into the Indian polity. The unsetting increasing trend of criminalization of politics to which our country has been a witness tends to disrupt the constitutional ethos and strikes at the very root of our democratic form of government by making our citizenry suffer at the hands of those who are nothing but a liability to our country.
In a constitutional democracy, criminalization of politics is an extremely disastrous and lamentable situation.
The citizens in a democracy cannot be compelled to stand as silent, deaf and mute spectators to corruption by projecting themselves as helpless. A voter is entitled to have an informed choice.
A time has come that the Parliament must make law to ensure that persons facing serious criminal cases do not enter into the political stream.
The nation eagerly waits for such legislation, for the society has a legitimate expectation to be governed by proper constitutional governance. The voters cry for systematic sustenance of constitutionalism. The country feels agonized when money and muscle power become the supreme power. Substantial efforts have to be undertaken to cleanse the polluted stream of politics by prohibiting people with criminal antecedents so that they do not even conceive of the idea of entering into politics. They should be kept at bay."
Money and Muscle power hurts the principles of ‘free and fair elections’, ‘participatory democracy’ and ‘level playing field’ wherein, citizens are left hostage to the current dismal situation in India.
According to findings of the ADR, major political parties such as BJP, Congress, TMC, NCP, RJD, AAP, CPI(M) and YSRCP continue to field candidates with criminal background. The report found that 44 percentage of Union Ministers in India have a criminal record and 25 percentage of Members of Parliament (MPs) have serious criminal cases against them. 53 MPs are billionaires and 475 are multi-millionaires.
One of the biggest manifestos of the Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP) – a political outfit led by the Prime Minister (PM) of India Narendra Modi while campaigning in 2014 was to end the criminalization of politics.
The Union Finance Minister belonging to the BJP Nirmala Sitharaman last week in a summit organized by a news channel in New Delhi when asked if tainted politicians are accepted by the BJP, she said “Doors are open for all. We are welcoming everybody in our party.
About Association for Democratic Reforms
ADR is a New Delhi based think-tank that makes efforts to bring greater transparency and accountability in the functioning of political parties in India.
Its core analysis is focused on
Corruption and Criminalization in the Political Process
Empowerment of the Electorate through greater dissemination of information about the candidates and the Political Parties for a better and informed choice
Greater Accountability of Political Parties
Transparency in functioning of the Political Parties
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