From the TOI: The inaction: The Supreme Court on Friday sought a response from the Election Commission on why it was not enforcing its verdict which made it mandatory for candidates to advertise their criminal antecedents in newspapers and TV channels while contesting an election. The SC had, in a bid to check increasing criminalisation of politics, ordered that every candidate should inform the public about his criminal record in "bold letters" and at least three times after filing of nomination papers through newspapers at large and electronic media.
Too many criminals? The number of MPs with criminal past gives an idea of the numbers we are talking about. In 2014, 97 (35%) out of 282 winners from BJP and 8 (18%) out of 44 winners from Congress had declared criminal cases against themselves. The number of those who had declared 'serious' criminal cases were 61 (22%) for BJP and 3 (7%) for Congress. The past three Lok Sabhas have seen an increasing number of legislators with criminal cases — 128 in 2004, 162 in 2009 and 184 in 2014. Who foots the bill? EC implemented the order for the first time in the recently held state elections. While the SC order did not clarify on who would foot the bill for these ads, it was added to the candidate's election account in these polls. Political parties, including Congress and BJP, have opposed the move saying it eats into a candidate's poll expenditure limit (capped at Rs 70 lakh for general elections). Instead, political parties suggest that the expenditure be shifted to their (political party's) account as there is no expenditure limit for the party. However, that will put 'independent' candidates at a disadvantage. Criminals win polls: Political parties are also reluctant to ban criminals from contesting because of the 'winnability' factor - a candidate facing criminal cases has double the chance of winningcompared to a clean candidate. According to a research by Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR), the chances of winning for a candidate with criminal cases in the Lok Sabha 2014 elections were 13% whereas for a candidate with a clean record they were 5%. ADR calculated chances of winning for a candidate with criminal cases by dividing the number of winners with criminal cases with the number of candidates with criminal cases. Roland. Toronto.
