Case Title: Rambabu Singh Thakur V. Sunil Arora & Ors.
The Supreme Court ordered all political parties to publish the specifics of their candidates' criminal backgrounds in the Lok Sabha and Assembly elections within 48 hours of the candidate's selection or within two weeks of nomination, whichever is earlier, taking note of the "alarming" rise in the criminalization of politics.
Local newspapers should broadcast the material, and the parties' official websites and social media accounts should host it. The type of crime, as well as the status of the investigation and trial, should be disclosed.
The Court noted that applicants must be chosen based on their accomplishments and merit. The party is required to publicise its selection criteria. The judges commented that choosing a candidate with a criminal history couldn't just be based on their likelihood of winning.
All parties must submit compliance reports to the Election Commission on the directives. The bench warned that failure to do so might result in contempt charges. The Indian Election Commission has been urged to investigate the situation further.
In response to complaints by Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay and Rambabu Singh Thakur that the Election Commission of India had disobeyed orders issued by the Constitution Bench in 2018 on the decriminalisation of politics, a bench made up of Justices R F Nariman and Ravindra Bhat issued the ruling.
The Supreme Court's five-judge panel ordered the candidates to make a big deal out of any criminal charges that may be active against them, regardless of whether they are in the investigation or trial phases, on September 25, 2018. The Court mandated that candidates' criminal histories be made explicit in their nomination papers. Following the filing of nomination papers, the concerned political party and the candidate are required to publicly disclose the candidate's criminal history by running three advertisements in widely read local newspapers as well as in electronic media.
According to the contempt petitions, the Election Commission of India failed to change the Election Symbols Order and Model Code of Conduct to comply with the Supreme Court's requirements, hence the SC's directives were not followed in the next Assembly Elections and General Elections.