New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday while hearing the petition seeking a lifetime ban on people convicted of offences from contesting elections and becoming MPs and MLAs, sought a response from all the High Courts regarding cases registered against MPs and MLAs wherein the pendency exceeds 5 years and steps that have been taken to expedite the disposal.
The bench comprising Justice DY Chandrachud and Justice Hima Kohli was hearing a petition filed by advocate and BJP member Ashwini Upadhyay who had sought a lifetime ban on those people from contesting polls who are convicted of crimes. The issue was earlier considered by former CJI NV Ramana but since he is retired the matter came up before Justice DY Chandrachud-led bench.
Justice Chandrachud asked the amicus curie to file a brief note regarding the matter, what has been done, what is the status etc. Amicus Curie Vijay Hansari informed the court that out of all the MPs, 400 have criminal cases registered against them and since 2016 court has been monitoring. He also said that the cases have been increasing.
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Court asked him to submit everything in a note and adjourned the matter for hearing. The matter is likely to be heard after one month. Meanwhile, a separate bench of the apex Monday junked a plea by the same petitioner seeking a direction to the Election Commission to ensure that all political parties publish details regarding criminal cases of candidates along with the reason for their selection on the home page of their official websites. A bench of Justices S K Kaul and Abhay S Oka asked the petitioner to approach the Election Commission with his plea.
"This is not a walk-in place. We feel that this petition is misconceived. What is being sought is implementation of the previous judgement of this court. It is for the petitioner to approach the Election Commission. Plea is dismissed," the bench said.
Besides the website, the petition also sought a direction to the Election Commission of India (ECI) to ensure that every politician publishes the details in electronic, print, and social media, and to file a contempt case against the president of the party which violates such directions.
