 "Supreme Court of India")
The Supreme Court Tuesday held that all candidates will have to declare their criminal antecedents to the Election Commission before contesting polls, and termed as "unsettling" the criminalisation of politics in the world's largest democracy. The apex court said that informed choice is the cornerstone of democracy and asked the legislature to consider framing a law to ensure decriminalisation of politics. It said there was a need for a law to prevent persons with serious criminal cases pending against them from entering the legislature and be a part of lawmaking.
The top court said corruption and criminalisation of politics are hitting at the roots of Indian democracy, and Parliament must take steps urgently to curb this menace.
A five-judge Constitution bench, headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra, said that citizens have a right to be informed about the antecedents of their candidates.
The following is the chronology of events leading up to the Supreme Court's Tuesday holding:
The following is the chronology of events leading up to the Supreme Court's Tuesday holding:
March 8, 2016: Three-judge bench of SC refers the matter to a five-judge Constitution bench comprising CJI Dipak Misra and Justices R F Nariman, A M Khanwilkar, D Y Chandrachud and Indu Malhotra.
December 14, 2017: SC directs the Centre to set up 12 special courts to exclusively deal with cases involving politicians.
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March 11, 2018: The Centre tells SC that states and Union Territories have been asked to set up special fast-track courts to try 3,816 criminal cases pending against 1,765 lawmakers.
March 21: The Centre tells SC that political parties appointing office-bearers are part of their autonomy.
August 3: Congress leader Jitendra Patwari moves SC opposing the mandatory transfer of all types of pending criminal cases against lawmakers to fast track courts set up exclusively to deal with cases involving MPs and MLAs.
August 9: AG K K Venugopal says the issue squarely fell under the domain of Parliament.
August 21: SC dubs criminalisation of politics as "rot".
August 28: SC reserves verdict.
September 25: Terming as "unsettling" the criminalisation of politics in the world's largest democracy, SC asks Parliament to formulate a law to curb the menace.
