Upload Details of Candidates with Criminal Cases: SC To Political Parties

The Supreme Court on Thursday said that it would be mandatory for all the political parties to upload the details on their websites and on social media within 48 hours.

The court said, "The political parties must uploadon their website the details of criminal cases against candidates and thereasons for selecting them," flagging an alarming rise in the criminalization ofpolitics in the last four national elections.

The court said that the parties must submit thedetails within 72 hours to the Election Commission and directed that the reasonto select candidates should be based on merit and not winnability.

The judges further stated that if any political parties failed to provide the details or the Election Commission was unable to implement the directive, it would be considered contempt of court.

The apex court verdict comes on contempt petitionsfiled by lawyer Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay and others.

A five-judge constitution bench on September 2018asked the central government to immediately enact laws to ban those involved inserious crimes from contesting elections and becoming party officials.