Today, On 29th April, The Supreme Court, led by CJI Khanna, deferred to August 11 a plea seeking to bar convicts from forming political parties. He questioned, “How can a convict decide candidates for election?” highlighting concerns over democratic integrity.
New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Tuesday postponed to August 11 a plea aimed at preventing convicted individuals from forming political parties and holding positions within them.
A bench led by Chief Justice Sanjiv Khanna and Justice Sanjay Kumar declined to conduct a final hearing on the Public Interest Litigation (PIL) submitted by lawyer Ashwini Upadhyay.
Also Read: Supreme Court to Hear Pleas on Bringing Political Parties Under RTI Act in April
The Chief Justice, who will retire on May 13, remarked,
“I do not want to reserve any more judgment,”
The bench then scheduled the final hearing for August 11 and permitted the parties to submit written arguments.
Filed in 2017, the PIL seeks to prohibit convicts from forming political parties and serving as office-bearers during their disqualification period. The bench had previously questioned how individuals who are barred from electoral politics can select candidates for elections and uphold integrity in public life.
The bench asked,
“Here is a person who is convicted and disqualified from contesting an election. How can he decide the candidates for election? How can the purity of democracy be maintained?”
The plea contended that 40 percent of legislators were either convicted or facing trial, stating,
“That is why there is resistance. They do not want probity.”
The Supreme Court, On December 1, 2017, requested responses from the Centre and the Election Commission regarding the PIL and agreed to review the constitutional validity of Section 29A of the Representation of the People Act (RPA), 1951, which grants the poll panel authority to register political parties.
Consequently, the plea sought a directive to declare Section 29A of the RPA as “arbitrary, irrational and ultra-vires” to the Constitution and to empower the poll panel to register and deregister political parties.
The petitioner also requested that the Election Commission develop guidelines to decriminalize the electoral system and ensure internal party democracy, as recommended by the National Commission to Review the Working of the Constitution.
The petition highlighted that individuals convicted of serious crimes, such as murder, rape, smuggling, money laundering, theft, sedition, or dacoity, can still form political parties and assume roles as presidents or office bearers.
It named several prominent political leaders who have been convicted or have pending charges yet hold significant political positions and “wield political power.”
The increase of political parties has become a pressing issue, as the plea noted that Section 29A of the RPA allows a small group of individuals to establish a political party with a minimal declaration.
Additionally, it claimed that in 2004, the poll panel proposed an amendment to Section 29A to authorize it to regulate the registration and deregistration of political parties effectively.