Draw up plan in a week to de-criminalise politics: SC to EC

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday asked the Election Commission to draw up an action plan within one week on ways and means to check criminalisation of politics in the country.

A bench comprising Justices RF Nariman and S Ravindra Bhat was hearing a contempt petition — filed by BJP leader Ashwini Upadhyay and NGO Public Interest Foundation — against the poll body for failing to check criminalisation of politics.

The plea had drawn the top court’s attention to the fact that despite an earlier order asking the EC to highlight criminal records of all candidates in constituencies ahead of polls, nothing much had been done.

Senior advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan argued the case for the petitioners.

Senior advocate Vikas Singh, assisted by EC standing counsel Amit Sharma, argued that no contempt was made out as the poll panel had done everything required to highlight the criminal record of candidates for the information of the general public. He said that highlighting of such records through affidavits does not work.

Instead, he suggested that parties be directed not to put up such candidates during elections. Since there is no law dealing with this problem and candidates with criminal records had been revealing their antecedents in a particular form only under court direction, the PIL petitioner had urged the court to explore if it could bind political parties to desist from putting up such candidates.

Among the steps explored were whether political parties could be barred from registering if they put up such candidates. The Union government, through the law ministry, is also facing contempt in the case. It has also denied any laxity in implementing the court order.

The court eventually asked the EC to come back with an action plan within a week on how to deal with the menace.