candidates-SC-rules

Press Release : An informed choice

The voters must know the candidates, the SC rules.

May 2002: The efforts of Lok Satta and its colleagues to cleanse India polity of criminal
elements has received a big boost with the Supreme Court Judgement of May 2nd, directing the
Election Commission of India to ask candidates contesting parliamentary or assembly elections
to compulsorily furnish details of their criminal antecedents, if any, to allow voters to think
before they make their choice. The court said candidates would have to give details on five
counts:

     1.Whether the candidate has been convicted or acquitted or discharged of any criminal
         offence in the past. If convicted, whether he or she was punished with imprisonment or
         fine.
     2.Whether the candidate was accused, anytime within six months prior to filing his
         nomination, in any pending case of any offence punishable with imprisonment for two
         years or more, and in which charges were framed or cognizance was taken by a court of
         law, and if so, details thereof.
     3.The assets (immovable, movable, bank balances, etc) of a candidate and of his/her
         spouse and that of his/her dependents.
     4.Liabilities, if any, particularly whether there are any dues to any public financial
         institution or government body.
     5.The candidate's educational qualifications.

The bench passed the order while disposing of an appeal filed by the Centre challenging the
sweeping directions given by the Delhi high court on a petition filed by the Association for
Democratic Reforms (ADR).

This issue has arisen largely as a result of Lok Satta's Election Watch movement and
screening of candidates for criminal antecedents in the 1999 Lok Sabha and legislative
Assembly elections. A list of 45 candidates with criminal record was released by Lok Satta,
and it evoked tremendous response all over the country. In AP, over the past three years, overt
criminalization of politics has come down to some extent due to the public pressure generated
by Lok Satta's campaign.

ADR filed a writ petition in Delhi Court seeking such a directive to the EC. This petition
extensively cited Lok Satta's efforts in 98, 99 and 2000 elections. The Delhi High Court ruled in
favor of the petitioners, upon which the union government appealed to the supreme court citing
intrusion of privacy! The congress party was co-petitioner in this appeal. Both the union
government and congress party agreed against such disclosure of candidates' record!

Lok Satta and colleagues in ADR are now taking up this issue with the Election Commission to
ensure effective implementation of the Supreme Court Judgement, and full disclosure of criminal
antecedents, assets and liabilities and educational qualifications.

We need active involvement of all concerned citizens in support of this cause. Do kindly send
messages to the Chief Election Commissioner of India at jmlyngdoh@eci.gov.in in support of
the Supreme Court judgement, seeking its full and effective implementation and full disclosure
to the public.

Sample letter to the Election Commissioner

Action Programme suggested by Lok Satta.

The Election Commission has suggested the 5 items (namely, record of past conviction and
details of sentence if any, details of any pending cases 6 months prior to date of nomination,
assets & liabilities of candidates, spouses and dependents, and educational qualifications of
candidates) to the Supreme Court in its submission. The Election Commission is proactive in
its efforts to cleanse our polity and its independence, credibility and integrity are widely
respected across the country.

However the full disclosure of these 5 items of candidates will have far reaching impact on the
political process. Many political parties and candidates are bound to resist this and do
everything possible to undermine the supreme court judgement. Already the solicitor general on
behalf of the union government and the counsel of the Congress party have explicitly and
unequivocally opposed such disclosure in their arguments before the court. This only shows
that the mainstream political parties are determined to keep the citizen in the dark.

Therefore it is imperative that the affidavit and full details regarding the candidates’ criminal
record, assets and liabilities and educational qualifications should be treated as an integral part
of the nomination. In such a case, not filing the affidavit and details shall entail rejection of the
nomination. However false disclosure cannot be prevented. The only recourse is false disclosure
should entail prosecution and election petition by the rival candidates on grounds that the voters
were misled.

Civil society pressure is therefore vital to ensure that rules are framed in keeping with the spirit
of the Supreme Court judgement and the requirements of full disclosure. The provisions
pertaining to the assets and liabilities in particular will be very uncomfortable for the political
parties and candidates. In order to overcome this political resistance we need to mobilize public
opinion in a big way and demonstrate it effectively.

Lok Satta therefore humbly proposes to all the activists, citizen groups, organizations, people’s
movements and concerned citizens the following action programme:

Lakhs of citizens should send post cards, emails or other forms of electronic
communication to the Election Commission at the following address:
             Mr. J M Lyngdoh
             Chief Election Commissioner of India
             Nirvachan Sadan Ashoka Road
             New Delhi 110001
             Email: jmlyngdoh@eci.gov.in

The proposed text of the message is enclosed. It may be suitably improved and
translated into local languages. These letters and communication should reach the
Commission positively by 31st May. The Supreme Court judgment directed the
Commission to frame the guidelines and regulations within 2 months of judgment.
Therefore public opinion must be expressed clearly well before these regulations are
formed.

A signature campaign should be undertaken all over the country in support of the specific
guidelines as outlined in the enclosed text. We should aim at a minimum of 10 lakh and
hopefully upto 1 crore signatures.

Supreme Court judgment doesn’t cover elections to local governments. In Andhra
Pradesh, the State Election Commission has already agreed in principle to implement
the Supreme Court judgment in respect of local government elections. Citizen’s initiatives
in all states may kindly contact the SEC concerned to ensure the application of this
judgment in local elections. If in some States there is any difficulty we may then file a
petition before the Supreme Court for a similar direction to all the SECs.

Meetings and public discourses should be held in all parts of the country to mobilize
public opinion in favour of this judgment and also educate them on the need for overall
electoral reforms, specifically:
             Curbing irregularities in polls
             Decriminalization of politics
             Political funding reform
             Political party reform
Signatures may also be collected during such meetings in support of effective
implementation of Supreme Court judgment. An aggressive media campaign may be
launched in each State involving the press and electronic media in the form of panel
discussions, debates, News paper articles, letters to editors etc. to keep the issue in
public focus. You may involve students in colleges and universities in the whole
campaign including signature campaign.

In the 1st week of June, the representatives of all like minded organizations can
assemble in Delhi along with the signatures. With the support of activists in Delhi, we will
organize a procession and present the signatures to the President of India and the Chief
Election Commissioner. Such clear demonstration of public opinion will surely make
political parties think twice before resisting disclosure or diluting it. We appeal to all the
organizations and concerned citizens to keep us informed of their initiatives. In each
state an organization can take the responsibility to act as nodal agency. For example,
Catalyst Trust in Tamilnadu, Public Affairs Center in Karnataka, MKSS in Rajasthan,
CERC in Gujarat, CYSD in Orissa, AGNI in Maharashtra, PUCL, Transparency
International, Manushi and CMS in Delhi, Concerned Citizens for Calcutta in West
Bengal etc. may take up this responsibility. Friends can identify other such nodal
agencies in other states and contact them and initiate action.

We appeal to you to seize this opportunity in right earnest. Lok Satta’s experience shows that
disclosure has a significant impact on the quality of candidates and behaviour of political parties
over a time. In Andhra Pradesh the parties no longer nominate new candidates with criminal
record, though entrenched politicians with such a record continue. Public pressure has forced
major parties to change their nominees for influential positions like Zilla Parishad Chairpersons.
Supreme Court Judgement covers assets and liabilities of candidates and therefore has greater
long term potential for transforming the nature of our politics.

Operational Part of SC's judgement
Complete Supreme Court Judgement

Jayaprakash Narayan
May 2002
http://www.loksatta.org/inthepress.htm