PTI, NEW DELHI: Politicians, their spouses and dependents would now have to declare their sources of income, along with their assets, for contesting elections, the Supreme Court ruled today.
In a landmark judgement, the apex court passed a slew of measures to reform the electoral process, observing that the “purity” of electoral process was fundamental to the “survival of a healthy democracy”.
It asked the Centre to put in place a mechanism to periodically collect data of the elected representatives, their spouses and dependents to examine whether there was any “disproportionate increase” in their assets and recommend appropriate action in such cases.
The top court also said that as per the mechanism, details regarding disproportionate hike in the assets of elected representatives, their spouses and dependents should be placed before the “appropriate legislature” to consider the eligibility of such lawmakers to continue as members of Parliament and assemblies.
A bench comprising Justices J Chelameswar and S Abdul Nazeer said that non-disclosure of assets and the sources of income of the candidates and their “associates”, which include their spouses and dependents, would constitute a “corrupt practice” under the provision of the Representation of People (RP) Act, 1951.
