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Political parties have to publish information regarding criminal antecedents of candidates on the homepage of their websites, the Supreme Court said on Tuesday.
The apex court directed the Election Commission of India (ECI) to create a dedicated mobile application containing information published by the candidates regarding their criminal antecedents so that voter gets information on his or her mobile phone at one stroke.
A bench of justices R F Nariman and B R Gavai passed these directions in its verdict on a plea seeking contempt action against several political parties including the BJP and the Indian National Congress for non-compliance of its February 13, 2020 directions during Bihar assembly polls last year.
The top court said in furtherance of the directions issued by a constitution bench in September 2018 and also in February last year, it is necessary to issue further directives in order to make the right of information of voters more effective and meaningful.
“Political parties are to publish information regarding criminal antecedents of candidates on the homepage of their websites, thus making it easier for the voter to get to the information that has to be supplied. It will also become necessary now to have on the homepage a caption which states ‘candidates with criminal antecedents',” the bench said in its 71-page verdict.
The apex court directed the Election Commission of India (ECI) to create a dedicated mobile application containing information published by the candidates regarding their criminal antecedents so that voter gets information on his or her mobile phone at one stroke.
A bench of justices R F Nariman and B R Gavai passed these directions in its verdict on a plea seeking contempt action against several political parties including the BJP and the Indian National Congress for non-compliance of its February 13, 2020 directions during Bihar assembly polls last year.
The top court said in furtherance of the directions issued by a constitution bench in September 2018 and also in February last year, it is necessary to issue further directives in order to make the right of information of voters more effective and meaningful.
“Political parties are to publish information regarding criminal antecedents of candidates on the homepage of their websites, thus making it easier for the voter to get to the information that has to be supplied. It will also become necessary now to have on the homepage a caption which states ‘candidates with criminal antecedents',” the bench said in its 71-page verdict.
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