SUBJECT: POLITICAL SCIENCE V

COURSE: BA LLB SEMESTER V

TEACHER: MS. DEEPIKA GAHATRAJ
MODULE: IX, CRIMINALISATION OF POLITICS
RIGHT TO KNOW ABOUT A CANDIDATE

This was one other step to curtail Criminalization of Politics. When the information about a
candidate is open to the public voters can make an informed decision while voting. This
brings transparency and hand fairness in elections.

In 1995 SC based on a petition filed directed that, every candidate contesting elections has
to disclose the following during nomination:

• Education qualifications

• Criminal background

• Assets and liabilities of the candidate and his/her family

The Constitution is not explicit regarding the nature and extent of disqualification; it hands
down the power to the Parliament to lay down the extant of disqualification for a person not
to be a Member of the Legislature. Silence in the legislative provisions does not mean to

A large number of cases have come to light to indicate that the unholy alliance between the
organized crime, the politicians and the bureaucrats have reached an alarming state. In many
cases criminals are found to be aided an abetted by politicians and bureaucrats, some of
exclude the persons with antecedents of criminality and corruption. whom have been stated.
The Supreme Court in Lok Prahari v. Election Commission of 24 India ,while relying on its
previous decisions in Ravi Kant Patil and Lily Thomas, a vowed its stand that upon the stay
of a conviction by appellate court under Section 389 of the CrPC, the disqualification under
Section 8 will not operate and this was a major setback.

The plausible step taken by the Election Commission of India that there should be one
column in the form of affidavit in the nomination paper indicating the information about the
conviction or acquittal of any criminal offence in the past; information about any
accusations punishable with imprisonment for two years or more prior to six months of
filing of nomination; and information about the assets and educational qualifications etc.
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Moreover, furnishing wrong information is liable to be punished. Subsequently, the directive
of the Supreme Court of India to furnish an affidavit while filing the nomination by the
contesting candidates indicating their criminal records, assets and education is a
commendable effort.

This has been illustrated in the case Union of India v. Association for Democratic
Reforms.This must be made to implement effectively. In order to restore the faith of people
in democracy, there is an urgent need of electoral reforms.

In this context the role of Election Commission of India and various laws relating to
elections such as Representation of Peoples Act l950 & 1951, Conduct of Elections Act 196l
and also

The Right to Information Act etc are somewhat not up to the expectation. Although the
Commission has taken many steps to curb criminalization of politics, it has not yielded the
desired results.

The Commission needs to be armed with more powers than it has at present then only it can
be expected to carry out its functions effectively as desired by the Constitution of India.
And, lastly the role of media is also very commendable in curbing the criminalization of
politics During the elections the role of media assumes much more significance and
relevance due to their role of informing the public at large about the political parties, their
manifestoes and exposing their electoral malpractices.

But for many reasons the media is also not been able to perform its fundamental duties.
Thus, the problem of criminalization of politics and the rapid declination of political ethics
is not the result of one cause but it is a culmination of various reasons as stated above.

This is an evil feature of Indian politics today and various committees or commissions like,
Vohra Committee have been set up to examine this political menace and Thus, inherent in
the model of representative government based on popular sovereignty is the commitment to
hold regular free and fair elections. The importance of free and fair elections stems from
two factors— instrumentally, its central role in selecting the persons who will govern the
people, and intrinsically, as being a legitimate expression of popular will. Stressing the

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importance of free and fair elections in a democratic polity, the Supreme Court held in
Mohinder Singh Gill v. Chief Election Commissioner.

ECI has recommended that even under trial Politicians in case of heinous crimes must be
barred for contesting elections provided the case is filed before 1 year of elections and court
has framed the charges to reduce malafide / false cases, introduction of NOTA (PUCL vs
Union of India, 2014), if a person is found guilty by a Commission of Inquiry then he/she
shall be disqualified from contesting elections.

Evidence is also of the opinion that FPTP electoral system be replaced by the 2-ballot
system under which a candidate is declared elected from a territorial constituency on the
basis of majority principle reducing the chances of a criminal getting elected. Along with 2-
ballot system, the negative vote shall also be introduced. This step has already been taken as
per Supreme Court judgment.

Media, the fourth estate in a democracy has much to contribute in this aspect. A fearless and
vigilant media to educate people about the vagaries of elections and democracy is absolutely
called for. It cannot be undermined that many media houses are owned or connected with
big corporate houses or political parties.

But the magnitude of impact that an independent and vibrant media can give in curbing this
perilous trend is beyond any measure. In this age of information technology and social
media, its role is enormous. For instance, even if people cannot be completely persuaded not
to consider in electing their representatives on caste, language, religion, region and ethnic
grounds, they may be made aware about the repercussions of having to choose person with
criminal shade.

A reasoned and decent public opinion on this regard can be initiated and diffused wide and
open. Alongside, the functioning of robust civil societies are essential for precluding this
trend in politics. Vibrant civil societal organisations can spread awareness among the masses
about the menace of politics getting highly criminalised.

The Union Government, all Political parties and several NGOs including our “Citizens for
National Consensus” (CNC) have been advocating electoral reforms with the view to
strengthening democracy at various levels.

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A number of commissions and committees such as, the law commission of India, Election
Commission and Vohra Committee, Dinesh Goswami Committee etc have examined the
issue of criminalization of politics but the situation is escalating every now and then. They
all have come out with their recommendations though all turn out to be futile thus far. All
those recommendations are continuously put under cold storage thus far thereby making
them extraneous.

Conclusion

Democracy implies rule of law and holding of free elections to ascertain the will of the
people. But in quite recent times this peaceful process of social change has been much
vitiated. Criminalization of politics has become a headache for the Indian democracy. It’s
shameful to admit that in the world’s largest democracy the cult of the gun prevails;
Goondas and Criminals are hired to kill political rivals etc. In this way the entire democratic
process is negated. What’s more surprising and rather shameful is that these people even
after committing serious criminal offences make their way to the Parliament and
Assemblies, which is the highest governing body in the country.
TheVohra Report, submitted by the formerIndian UnionHome Secretary, N.N. Vohra, in
October 1993, studied the problem of the criminalisation of politics and of the nexus among
criminals, politicians and bureaucrats in India. The report contained several observations
made by official agencies on the criminal network which was virtually running a parallel
government. It also discussed criminal gangs who enjoyed the patronage of politicians of all
political parties and the protection of government functionaries.
Many criminals are just allowed to contest in the elections just because they are not
convicted and under the trial of court. This practice can be avoided if special arrangements
are made for speedy trial of the politicians with criminal records. Because it needs to be
understood that such people should not be allowed to sit in the highly esteemed house of
parliament, which decides the fate of the country.
The Vohra committee appointed by the Central Government under chairmanship of Mr. M.
N. Vohra to look into this problem said in its report that the mafia network was virtually
running a parallel government, pushing the State apparatus into irrelevance. A petty dada
finds it easy to become a feared representative of the people. Mafia gangs enjoyed the
patronage of local level politicians and that some gang members even got elected to the
Assemblies and Parliament.
Criminalisation of politics in India has attained a stage, where it needs serious attention
from the citizens, government and political parties as there was a steady decline in values of
all sections of our society. Criminalisation of politics has led to immense pressure on

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functioning of political institution. The worst part of picture is that “criminal record”
becomes an essential qualification for entry into politics. In India Politics is not a social
service anymore, instead it emerged as a lucrative profession or business. Today it is used to
believe that crime is the shortest access to legislature and parliament of India. Further
success rate of criminals into electoral process is alluring the young blood of country as a
source of negative inspiration for them. It is now believed that the safest haven for criminals
is politics and political parties have gone overboard in associating criminals with them more
because of their muscle and money power, which is supposed to ensure victory in polls.
Criminalisation of the political system is threatening the very roots of democracy in India.

REFERENCES:
-Choudhary, Lakha Ram, Criminalisation of Politics and Administration (India),
International Journal of Research in Social Sciences 7:5, 2017, pp 349-362
-https://shodhganga.inflibnet.ac.in/bitstream/10603/180605/7/chapter%204.pdf
- https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3598954