The Supreme Court has placed the onus on the Parliament to legislate on the matter of disallowing candidates facing charges of committing heinous crimes from contesting elections. The judiciary has been kind of compelled to pronounce judgments on crucial socio-political issues. But in this case, similar to the Triple Talaq, it has laid the burden on Parliament to draft appropriate legislation. At present, those convicted of heinous crimes such as murder, rape and kidnapping are barred from contesting elections. But the PIL plea filed in 2011 by Public Interest Foundation, an NGO, sought disqualification of candidates even charge-sheeted for serious and heinous offences that can attract sentences of five years or more. It was a complicated matter for the apex court, and would be for the Parliament as well. If a law is enacted, paving the way for disqualification of candidates on the basis of charge sheets being filed in cases involving such criminal acts, there is the possibility of innocents getting penalised on fabricated allegations. We are certain, every citizen of India is aware of the efficiency, integrity and honesty of police officers. Those in semi urban or rural police stations often turn out to be flagrantly violating legal process because no one challenges them. Therefore, fabricating or slapping of false cases is very common. For example, a political person sides with people who gherao a police station following a custodial death. Police arrest the people involved in the protest, along with the politician. The police immediately frame charges under serious sections the IPC that could relate to obstructing a civil servant from discharging his/her duties or making inflammatory statements and the like. The police officer in-charge expedites filing of the charge sheet to not only save his own skin but to also wreak vengeance on the politician if he holds a grudge over some issue. In such a case, if a law is in place to bar persons against whom charge sheets have been filed from contesting elections, the politician loses an opportunity to contest even if he stands to win public support. And even if the politician finally wins the case and is exonerated, he stands to lose an opportunity for no fault of his/hers.
In states such as Andhra Pradesh, the super-rich have ensured that the cost of contesting an election has become superlatively high. It means that a candidate who gets a ticket to contest polls can only be from this economic stratum. If money power rules in Andhra Pradesh, muscle power has come to rule the roost in northern states such as Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Haryana and Madhya Pradesh. Criminal elements target ordinary politicians, learn about their weaknesses and then sucker them into their traps. They are then able to threaten these politicians to take a backseat and allow criminal elements to overrun. There are also instances wherein a bureaucrat or police officer falls out with a leader and places hurdles in the completion of a work despite orders.
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The challenge before lawmakers would be to find a way to not only bar criminal elements to enter the political process but also ensure that innocents do not fall prey to mischievous machinations.
As a deterrent to criminals taking part in the electoral exercise, the apex court has asked political parties and candidates to publish their criminal records on mass media such as television and print thrice after filing their nomination papers so that people are aware of their background while casting their vote. This is a welcome step. The Supreme Court directive appears sensible given that creating legal barriers alone will not suffice to rid politics of criminals. It would be a Utopian goal to rid politics of criminals. Not only politics, every wing of society, today, is spilling over with criminals or people with criminal intent. And that is what is seen on a daily basis across this country. Politicians are but a mirror of society.
