INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
The wait for clean politics has got longer
Parliament to come up with an effective law to prevent persons with serious criminal cases pending against them from entering the
take steps urgently to curb this menace.
To cleanse the political system, the five-judge Bench headed by chief justice Dipak Misra has now
ordered all candidates to put in bold letters her/his criminal antecedents in the required affidavit, even as political parties have been
decision to keep off this contentious topic may have dashed all hopes of clean politics ahead of the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.
On ET
decriminalisation of politics
Right to stand for elections is basically a statutory right
But with the Constitution itself not providing for a disqualification on the ground that a person is facing charges in a criminal offence,
Somehow, everyone is convinced that preventing the candidate from contesting election when they have charges against them is the right way
to prevent criminalisation of politics
I think we are shifting the responsibility for something much deeper on to this electoral-legal reform
The real problem is that our criminal justice system is very weak, very unreliable and very time-taking.
RAJEEV GOWDASPOKESPERSON,
CONGRESSThere are cases which are heinous crimes and which are politically motivated
Is the Supreme Court right that this is the domain of legislature Absolutely! Where discretion comes in is within political parties they
31per cent of BJP MPs face criminal charges
Other option is for people to reject them
We are fully supportive of any move to eliminate criminals from Parliament
Let the BJP bring a Bill forward.
NALIN KOHLISPOKESPERSON, BJP ADVOCATE, SCCriminal jurisprudence begins with you being innocent unless
The larger issue is establishing a system where dispensation of justice is faster
It rests on the collective wisdom of the parliament when it comes to making laws
When the Supreme Court has said this, perhaps the Election Commission will do something
