The Supreme Court of India on Tuesday has fined nine political parties, including the federal ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), for not complying with February 2020 directions, and has asked the Election Commission of India to make criminal records of the electoral candidates public.
In February 2020, the court ordered that details of criminal records of the poll candidates shall be published within 48 hours of the selection of the candidate. However, no political party has followed the instructions.
"All these appeals have fallen on deaf ears [by not following February 2020 order]. The political parties refuse to wake up from deep slumber," a three-judge bench led by Chief Justice of India N.V. Ramana said in its order.
The court also warned the parties be cautious about declaring candidates' criminal records in the future to ensure all information related to the candidates is on their website.
So far, no political parties have commented on the Supreme Court order.
Data suggests that the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh has the most number of legislators (current and former) with criminal records.
"If we talk about current lawmakers of Uttar Pradesh, about 36 percent of them (143) have declared criminal cases, including rape and murder. But, these affidavits are not available to the public. Hence, nobody cares," Sanjay Kala, an election researcher with an international polling agency, C-voter, told Sputnik.
Elections in Uttar Pradesh will be held in early 2022 along with four other Indian states - Punjab, Manipur, Uttarakhand and Goa.
The Supreme Court also asked the Election Commission of India (ECI) to create a mobile app that has the information for voters for easy access.
"It's too early to understand how this data will impact the voters, but I guess this will impact more on youths and urban voters compared to rural voters," Kala added.
In the recently-held election in four states and one Union Territory, over half of the newly-elected lawmakers of Assam, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal and Puducherry declared criminal cases against themselves in their election affidavits, the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) said in a report.
The Court also ordered that no prosecution against lawmakers shall be withdrawn without the permission of the state high courts which are monitoring the progress of cases pending against such elected lawmakers.