Supreme Court Requests Response from Centre and ECI on Lifetime Ban for Convicted MPs/MLAs
A Public Interest Litigation (PIL) has been filed challenging the constitutional validity of Sections 8 and 9 of the Representation of People Act, 1951, aiming to prevent criminals from re-entering politics. The Act disqualifies individuals convicted of a criminal offense and sentenced to imprisonment for a minimum of two years, with a six-year disqualification period after release.
Criminalization of Politics
The term "criminalization of politics" refers to the rising involvement of individuals with criminal backgrounds in the political system. According to the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR), 251 (46%) of the 543 elected MPs in 2024 have criminal cases against them, with 171 (31%) facing serious charges, including rape, murder, and kidnapping.
Candidates with criminal backgrounds have a 15.4% chance of winning, compared to just 4.4% for those with clean backgrounds.
Impact
Economic: The use of black money in elections and the indirect promotion of crony capitalism.
Social: The focus on maximizing financial and muscle power undermines social welfare, promotes violence, and fosters social disharmony.
Political: It encourages the distribution of freebies (Rewdi culture), vote bribery, and undermines the principles of free and fair elections, as well as good governance.
Related Supreme Court Judgments
Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) case (2002): Requires candidates to disclose their criminal records when running for elections.
Lily Thomas case (2013): States that a sitting legislator is automatically disqualified following a conviction.
Public Interest Foundation v. Union of India (2019): Requires political parties to publish the criminal records of their candidates on their websites, social media, and in local newspapers.
Tags : UPSC 2025 current affairs
preparation, UPSC current affairs January 2025, UPSC 2025 daily current
affairs, Best sources for UPSC current affairs 2025, UPSC 2025 current affairs
for prelims, UPSC 2025 current affairs for mains, Important current affairs for
UPSC 2025, UPSC current affairs strategy 2025, UPSC 2025 current affairs notes,
UPSC current affairs PDF 2025, Current affairs for UPSC 2025 preparation, UPSC
2025 current affairs online classes, UPSC current affairs quiz 2025, How to
study current affairs for UPSC 2025, UPSC 2025 current affairs magazines,
Current affairs for UPSC 2025 prelims and mains, Current affairs updates for
UPSC 2025, UPSC 2025 current affairs analysis, Current affairs for UPSC 2025
PDF download, UPSC 2025 current affairs important topics,
No comments:
Post a Comment