New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Tuesday said that courts do not have the authority to disqualify political candidates charge-sheeted with crimes from contesting elections. It was responding to a cluster of petitions from civil society organisations. However, lamenting the growing criminalisation of politics in India, a five-judge Constitution Bench said that the Parliament under the Constitution, as well as the provisions of the Representation of the People Act, can disqualify candidates.
According to the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR), nearly one-third of incumbent MPs and MLAs face pending criminal cases and almost half of them are facing serious charges. They would be jailed if convicted.
The court said Parliament should frame a law that makes it obligatory for political parties to remove leaders charged with crimes and refuse ticket to offenders in both parliamentary and Assembly polls.