Bar tainted MLAs from polls: EC
PTI
NEW DELHI, JAN 9
The Election Commission wants the Government and Parliament to ‘revisit’ the issue of criminalisation of politics and take urgent steps to bar candidates facing serious charges of murder, rape and extortion from contesting elections.
The Commission also favours disqualification of incumbent MPs and MLAs on conviction in cases involving serious charges.
Worried that criminalisation of politics or politicisation of criminals is an ill plaguing the electoral system, the Commission says the issue needs to be revisited to enhance the faith of citizens in democracy and to improve the quality of elections.
“I would like to reiterate that such temporary debarment will be in the larger public interest,” Chief Election Commissioner S Y Quraishi told PTI in a wide-ranging interview.
It covered issues ranging from electoral reforms to mushrooming growth of political parties to independent functioning of the Commission.
“The fact is that power to disqualify anyone is not with EC but with Parliament. Under the existing law, a person is disqualified for contesting election only on conviction,” he said.
He recalled that the Commission had recommended that persons facing serious criminal charges like murder, rape, extortion etc, where punishment on conviction may exceed five years, should be debarred from contesting elections during the pendency of their cases before the courts.
