Parties get 48 hours to publish candidates’ criminal records

The Supreme Court warned Parliament that the nation is losing patience with the advent of criminals in politics even as it 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.

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

The court said it did not take political parties much time to flout its February 2020 judgment, which directed them to prominently publish the criminal antecedents of their candidates in newspapers and on social media accounts, including Twitter and Facebook.

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.