New Delhi, Jan 17: A PIL was filed before the Supreme Court on Monday seeking directions to the Election Commission to take effective measures to ensure that every political party publishes details regarding criminal cases of each candidate along with reason for their selection.
Petitioner Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay, a lawyer, also sought that the information should be displayed on the Home Page of party’s official website in bold letters in the spirit of the apex court judgment.
The public interest litigation by Upadhyay, who is also a Bharatiya Janata Party leader, appealed to the top court to issue directions to the poll body to de-register any political party that violates the directions.
“The EC should take steps to ensure that every political party publishes the details regarding criminal cases of each candidate along with reason for such selection on the Home Page of its official website in bold letters within 48 hours in spirit of the judgment of September 25, 2018 and February 13, 2020,” the petition said.
The petition was expected to come up for hearing within 10-15 days.
Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Uttarakhand, Goa and Manipur will begin polling in February. The results will be declared in March.
