ELECTION LAW

Chanderprabhu Jain College of Higher Studies & School of Law
Plot No. OCF, Sector A-8, Narela, New Delhi – 110040
(Affiliated to Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University and Approved by Govt of NCT of Delhi & Bar Council of India)
Semester: EIGHTH Semester
Name of the Subject:
ELECTION LAW
ELECTION LAW
MEANING AND CONCEPT OF
ELECTION AND ELECTION DISPUTE

According to Black election is the process of selecting a person to occupy a position or office,
usually a public office .
The word ‘election’ implies persons who are to elect, (called the electors), the office to which
election is to be made, and the person who is to be elected(called the candidate).
Election is thus defined as the choice of persons to fill public office, means the expression by vote,
of the will of the people or of a numerous body of electors.
Election has also been defined to mean the act or process of choosing a person or persons for an
office, position or membership as by ballot .
In the Representation of the People Act, 1951 the word election is defined as: “ election means an
election to fill a seat or seats in either House of Parliament or in the House or either House of the
Legislature of a State.
The word election as used in the Representation of the People Act, 1951 includes every stage from
the time the notification calling for election is issued till the declaration of the result .
The expression election means selection of a person by vote or even otherwise.

Krishna Iyer J in Mohinder Singh Gill v. Chief Election Commissioner was of the view that every
step from start to finish or the total process constitutes election, not merely the conclusion of
culmination. The rainbow of operations, covered by the compendious expression ‘election’ thus
commences from the initial notification and culminates in the declaration of the return of a candidate
The Supreme Court in V.S. Achuthanandan v. P.J. Francis held that free, fair, fearless and impartial
elections are the guarantee of a democratic polity. Effective mechanism is the basic requirement for
having such election. For conducting, holding and completing the democratic process, a potential law
based upon requirements of the society is concededly of paramount importance. A balanced judicial
approach in implementing the laws relating to franchise is the mandate of this court.
The Supreme Court in Jyoti Basu v. Devi Ghosal observed that A right to elect, fundamental though
it is to democracy, is , anomalously enough, neither a Fundamental Right nor a common Law Right. It
is pure and simple, a statutory right. So is the right to be elected. So is the right to dispute an election.

Election Dispute: Relevant provision Article 329 clause b
(b) No election to either House of Parliament or to the House or either House of the Legislature of a State
shall be called in question except by an election petition presented to such authority and in such manner as
may be provided for by or under any law made by the appropriate Legislature
Election petition is a procedure for inquiring into the validity of the election results of Parliamentary or
local government elections. In other words, it is a means under law to challenge the election of a candidate
in a Parliamentary, Assembly or local election.
Election petitions are filed in the High Court of the particular state in which the election was conducted.
Therefore, only the High Courts have the original jurisdiction on deciding on election petitions. Such
jurisdiction shall be exercised ordinarily by the Single Judge of the High Court and Chief Justice shall
from time to time assign one or more Judges for that purpose.
An election petition can be filed by any candidate, or an elector1 relating to the election personally, to the
authorized officer of the High Court.

An election petition should consist of –
a)A concise statement of the material facts on which the petitioner relies
b)Full particulars of any corrupt practice that the petitioner alleges, including the names of the parties
alleged to have committed such corrupt practice and date and place of the commission of each such
practice in the form of an affidavit.
c) Any schedule or annexure to the petition shall be signed by the petitioner and verified.
d)The petition shall also be accompanied by an affidavit in the prescribed form in support of the
allegation of such corrupt practice (Form 25,)
A petitioner may, in addition to claiming that the election of a particular candidate is void, can also
claim that he/she himself/herself has been duly elected.
The election of a particular candidate can be declared void under section 100 of the Representation of
People Act, 1951, if the High Court is of the opinion that - a) On the date of his election a returned
candidate was not qualified or was disqualified to be chosen to fill the seat. b) Any corrupt practice (as
explained below) has been committed by a returned candidate or his election agent or by any other
person with the consent of a returned candidate or his election agent. c) By improper acceptance of
any nomination

.d) By any improper reception, refusal or rejection of any vote or the reception of any
vote which is void.
e) By any non-compliance with the provisions of the Constitution or RPA or any rules
or orders made under this act.
Where more election petitions than one are presented to the High Court in
respect of the same election, all of them shall be referred for trial to the same
judge who may, in his discretion, try them separately or in one or more groups.
The Representation of Peoples Act recommends every election petition shall
be tried as expeditiously as possible and as far as practicable for the interests
of justice. Every endeavor, its suggests, should be made on the part of the
High Court to conclude a trial for an election petition within six months from the
date on which the election petition is presented to the High Court for trial.
.

When the election of a candidate is declared void, any of his acts or proceedings in which that
candidate has participated as a Member of Parliament or State Legislature, shall not be
invalidated by reason of that order, nor shall such candidate be subjected to any liability or
penalty on the ground of such participation
Any election petition may be withdrawn only by leave of the High Court. Where an
application for withdrawal is made, notice thereof fixing a date for the hearing of the
application shall be given to all other parties to the petition and shall be published in the
official gazette.
An election petition can abate only on the death of the sole petitioner or of several petitions.
The High Court shall, thereafter, publish the same in such a manner as it may deem fit.
The High Court shall as soon as after the conclusion of the trial of an election petition,
intimate the substance of the decision to the Election Commission of India and the Speaker of
the House or Chairman of the State Legislature as the case may be. The High Court shall also
send an authenticated copy of the decision to the ECI.

An appeal shall lie to the Supreme Court on any question (whether of law and fact) from every order
made by a High Court.
Every appeal shall be preferred within a period of thirty days from the date of the order of the High
Court. Supreme Court may entertain an appeal after the expiry of the said period of thirty days if it is
satisfied that the appellant had sufficient cause for not preferring the appeal within such period.
An election petition usually stands infructuous by reasons of efflux of time, expiry of the membership
of the concerned candidate, death of the party related to the petition.
Examples of election petitions that have been filed. - An election petition was filed against Ashok
Chavan and Madhu Koda for understating his election expenses on newspaper advertisements during
the 2009 elections

. Now as per the Supreme Court ruling dated 5th of May, 2013 in the matter of both Mr.
Ashok Chavan and Mr. Madhu Koda, the Election Commission has been ordered to
conduct an enquiry and decide on the matters within a period of 45 days. - Election
Commission of India had disqualified Umlesh Yadav (woman MLA from Uttar Pradesh)
for filing an incorrect amount of expenses incurred by her during the elections. - An
election petition had been filed against Indira Gandhi for corrupt electoral practices and
she was disqualified from contesting elections for a period of six years. - An election
petition had been filed against Chidambaram on the grounds of corrupt practices and
manipulation of votes.

Recriminatory Petition
97. Recrimination when seat claimed.—(1) When in an election petition a declaration that any
candidate other than the returned candidate has been duly elected is claimed, the returned
candidate or any other party may give evidence to prove that the election of such candidate would
have been void if he had been the returned candidate and a petition had been presented calling in
question his election: Provided that the returned candidate or such other party, as aforesaid shall
not be entitled to give such evidence unless he has, within fourteen days from the date of
1[commencement of the trial], given notice to 2[the High Court] of his intention to do so and has
also given the security and the further security referred to in sections 117 and 118 respectively.
(2) Every notice referred to in sub-section (1) shall be accompanied by the statement and 3[***]
particulars required by section 83 in the case of an election petition and shall be signed and
verified in like manner.

ELECTION LAW
ELECTION LAW
ANTI DEFECTION LAW,
QUALIFICATIONS AND
DISQUALIFICATIONS

The anti-defection law was passed by parliament in 1985.
The 52nd amendment to the Constitution added the Tenth Schedule which laid down the process
by which legislators may be disqualified on grounds of defection. A member of parliament or state
legislature was deemed to have defected if he either voluntarily resigned from his party or disobeyed
the directives of the party leadership on a vote. That is, they may not vote on any issue in
contravention to the party’s whip. Independent members would be disqualified if they joined a
political party. Nominated members who were not members of a party could choose to join a party
within six months; after that period, they were treated as a party member or independent member.
The law also made a few exceptions. Any person elected as speaker or chairman could resign from
his party, and rejoin the party if he demitted that post. A party could be merged into another if at least
two-thirds of its party legislators voted for the merger. The law initially permitted splitting of parties,
but that has now been outlawed.

The 10th Schedule to the Constitution, popularly referred to as the ‘Anti-Defection Law,' was
inserted by the 52nd Amendment in 1985.
The grounds of disqualification are specified in Paragraph 2 of the 10th Schedule.
A member would incur a disqualification under paragraph 2 (1) (a) when he “voluntarily gives up
his membership of a party” and under 2 (1) (b) when he/she votes (or abstains from voting)
contrary to the directive issued by the party.
Two important questions arise in this regard: what would constitute the member ‘voluntarily'
giving up of membership of a party? And, what is the full import of 2 (1) (b), wherein
voting/abstention from voting against the party is mentioned?
The Supreme Court, in the Ravi Naik vs. Union of India case, has interpreted the
phrase ‘voluntarily gives up his membership.' It says: “The words ‘voluntarily gives up his
membership' are not synonymous with ‘resignation' and have a wider connotation. A
person may voluntarily give up his membership of a political party even though he has not
tendered his resignation from the membership of that party.

“Even in the absence of a formal resignation from membership, an inference can be drawn from the
conduct of a member that he has voluntarily given up his membership of the political party to which he
belongs.”
In another judgment in the case of Rajendra Singh Rana vs. Swami Prasad Maurya and Others, the
Supreme Court held that the act of giving a letter requesting the Governor to call upon the leader of the
other side to form a Government itself would amount to an act of voluntarily giving up membership of
the party on whose ticket the said members had got elected.
II Disqualifications
Disqualifications for election to Lok Sabha
If you want to stand as a candidate for election to the Lok Sabha (House of the People) from a
Parliamentary Constituency, you must not suffer from any of the following disqualifications,
Constitutional and Statutory:

a) Constitutional Disqualifications
(1) In the first place, you must not hold any office of profit under the Government of India or the
Government of any State [Article 102(I) (a) of the Constitution]. To this general rule, there are some
exceptions. The first exception is mentioned in Article 102(2) itself, according to which the office of
a Minister, either for the Union or for any State is not regarded as an office of profit under the
Government of India or the Government of any State. The other exceptions are mentioned in the
Parliament (Prevention of Disqualification) Act, 1959 (10 of 1959).
N.B. (1) For your convenience, this Act (10 of 1959) has been reproduced in the Manual of Election
Law published by the Government of India in the Ministry of Law, Justice and Company Affairs

(2) In the second place, you must not be a person of unsound mind and must not stand so declared by
a competent court [Article 102 (1) (b) of the Constitution].
(3) In the third place, you must not be an undischarged insolvent [Article 102(1) (c) of the
Constitution].
(4) In the fourth place, you will be disqualified if you are not a citizen of India or if you have
voluntarily acquired the citizenship of a foreign State or if you are under any acknowledgment of
allegiance of adherence to a foreign State. In simple words, you must not be an alien or a
foreigner [Article 102(1) (d) of the Constitution].
(5) Lastly, you must not be disqualified by or under any law made by Parliament [Article 102
(1) (e) of the Constitution

(b) Statutory Disqualifications
The law made by Parliament as envisaged in Article 102 (1) (e) of the Constitution mentioned above is the
Representation of the People Act, 1951. In addition to the above constitutional disqualfications, the Representation
of the People Act, 1951 has laid down a number of disqualifications for being chosen as, or for being, a member of
Parliament. These disqualifications are mentioned in section 8, section 8-A, section 9, section 9-A, section 10 and
section 10-A of the Representation of the People act, 1951. These disqualifications may, therefore, be called
statutory disqualifications to distinguish them from constitutional disqualifications described above. The total
number of the statutory disqualifications is six.
(i) The first statutory disqualification is contained in section 8 of the Representation of the People Act, 1951.
Under Sub-section (1) of this section, a person convicted of an offence punishable under :–
(a) Section 153A (offence of promotion of enmity between different groups on ground of religion, race, place of
birth, residence, language, etc., and doing acts prejudicial to maintenance of harmony) or section 171E (offence of
bribery) or section 171f (offence of

undue influence or personation at an election) or sub-section (1) or sub-section (2) or section 376
or section 376A or section 376B or section 376C or section 376D (offences relating to rape) or
section 498A (offences of cruelty towards a woman by husband or relative of a husband) or sub-
section (2) or sub-section (3) of section 505 (offence of making statement creating or promoting
enmity, hatred or ill will between classes or offence relating to such statement in any assembly
engaged in the performance of religious worship or religious ceremonies) of the Indian Panel Code
(45 of 1860) or
(b) The protection of civil rights Act, 1955 (22 of 1955), which provides for punishment for the
preaching and practice of ‘‘untouchability’’, and for the enforcement of any disability arising
therefrom; or
(c) Section 11 (offence of importing or exporting prohibited goods) of the Customs act, 1962 (52
of 1962); or

d) Sections 10 to 12 (offence of being a member of an association declared unlawful, offence relating
to dealing with funds of an unlawful association or offence relating to contravention of an order made
in respect of a notified place) of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967 (37 of 1967); or
(e) The Foreign Exchange (Regulation) Act, 1973 (46 of 1973) ; or
(f) The Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985 (61 of 1985); or
(g) Section 3 (offence of committing terrorist acts) or section 4 (offence of committing disruptive
activities) of the Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act, 1987 (28 of 1987) or
(h) Section 7 (offence of contravention of the provisions of sections 3 to 6) of the religious
institutions (Prevention of Misuse) Act, 1988 (41 of 1988); or

(i) Section 125 (offence of promoting enmity between classes in connection with the election) or
section 135 (offence of removal of ballot papers from polling stations) or section 135a (offence
of booth capturing) or clause (a) of sub-section (2) of section 136 (offence of fraudulently
defacing or fraudulently destroying any nomination paper) of the Representation of the People
Act, 1951; or
(j) Section 6 (offence of conversion of a Place of worship) of the Places of Worship (Special
Provisions) Act. 1991; or
(k) Section 2 (offence of insulting the Indian National Flag or the Constitution of India) or section 3
(offence of preventing singing of National Anthem) of the Prevention of Insults to National
Honour Act, 1971 shall be disqualified for a period of six years from the date of such
conviction.

ELECTION LAW
ELECTION LAW
NOMINATION

Filing of nomination starts on the date of notification by the President/Governor under Section 14/15
of the R.P. Act, 51.
Returning Officer to issue public notice of election (under S. 31) in Form -1 (appended to CE Rules,
61)
Public notice has to be under the signature of the RO only. No other authority can issue this public
notice.
Public Notice- Particulars to be specified (in Form 1)
•Specify the election.
•Mention the place at which nominations are to be filed (normally at the headquarters of RO) .
• Specify the ARO who will receive nomination paper in addition to RO. In normal circumstances,
only one ARO should be so specified
•Mention the last date of filing nomination, date, time and place of scrutiny, withdrawal and
date & hours of poll.

Requirements for valid nomination [Sec. 33(1)]
•Form of nomination paper – Form 2A for Lok Sabha and Form 2B for Leg. Assembly.
•To be presented before RO/ specified ARO only.
•Can only be filed at the place mentioned in the public notice.
•Can be filed only between 11 AM and 3 PM during the period for filing as per schedule notified by
ECI u/s 30 of RP Act, 51.
Proposers
•One proposer enough for candidates of a recognized National or State Party.
•Recognized Party means one of the National Parties or one of the recognized State Parties of the
State concerned.
•10 proposers required for all other candidates- even for recognized State Parties of other States.
•Proposers should be electors of the constituency concerned.
•Under rule 2 (2) of C.E. Rules, 1961, in case of proposers who are illiterate persons, their thumb
Impression has to be attested by the RO or an officer authorized by ECI.

Therefore Thumb Impression has to be affixed in the presence of the RO or the authorized
officer (an Administrative Officer not below the rank of SDO has been authorized for the
purpose by ECI) .
•For reserved constituencies, candidates have to give a declaration specifying the
caste/tribe to which he/she belongs. Such caste/tribe should be included in the list of
SC/ST in that State [Sec.33 (2)] .
•It is desirable to obtain certificate to prove SC/ST status.
•Certificate should be of a reasonably recent date.
•For a person dismissed from an office under govt. of India/any State Govt., to contest
election within 5 years of dismissal, has to submit along with nomination paper, a certificate
from ECI stating that the dismissal was not on account of corruption or disloyalty to State.
[S. 33(3)]

Certified copy of electoral roll:-
The candidate may be elector of a different constituency.
In that case, certified extract of entries in the relevant roll to be submitted –[S.33(5)]
If not filed with nomination, this can be filed by the time of scrutiny
In that case, RO to give a notice - in the check-list in the format given in Handbook.
Affidavits by candidate:-
•Candidate is required to file affidavit in Form-26 (as revised w.e.f. 01-08-2012).
•Affidavit to be sworn before notary public/oath commissioner/magistrate of the first class.
•Affidavit to be typed or written legibly and no columns to be left blank.
•If not filed with nomination, affidavit can be filed till 3 PM on last date of filing nomination.
•In that case notice to be given (as per check list).

Security Deposit
Rs.25,000 for Lok Sabha election.
Rs. 10,000 for Assembly election.
Half the amount for SC/ST candidates (even in general constituencies).
To be made either in cash before the RO/ARO or in RBI/ Treasury-no deposit acceptable by
cheque or Bank draft.
Deposit to be made when filing the first set of nomination or prior to it.
No. of nomination papers for one candidate:-
A maximum of four sets of nomination papers for a candidate.
Only one deposit is required.
Similarly all other accompanying documents- only one original needed.
If more than 4 nominations are filed, the fifth set onwards will be ignored. But, make sure this
does not happen.

Preliminary Examination
Preliminary examination from technical standpoint at the time of receiving nomination paper. [ S.
33(4)]
Entries relating to electoral roll details to be compared.
Clerical errors in names, Sl. No. etc. can be allowed to be corrected or even ignored.
Defects, if any, to be pointed out to candidate.
Forms “A” and “B” by Pol. Parties
•Paragraph 13 of Symbols Order provide requirements for treating a candidate as a candidate set up
by political party.
•Forms A and B to be filed latest by 3 PM on the last day of filing nomination.
•Both Forms A and B to be submitted to RO.
•Forms A & B to be signed in ink in original. Photocopy not acceptable. Form received
through Fax / e-mail also not acceptable.

Action by RO on receipt of nomination :-
•Enter date and time of filing nomination and put initials thereon.
•Give running serial number to nomination papers. If more than one set of nomination is
filed by one candidate, give serial number in the order in which they are presented.
•Fill up Part-VI of nomination form and handover to candidate/proposer as
acknowledgement.
•Also give a notice of time, date and venue of allotment of symbol.
•Fill up check list and handover copy to candidate/proposer filing nomination.
•For documents not filed and/or found defective in any manner, specific mention should be
made in the second part of checklist as notice to candidate for filing the same within
prescribed time limit.
•Obtain specimen signature of candidate. Also ask the candidate to write down his name in
the language in which ballot paper is to be printed.

Oath/Affirmation:-
•Candidate required to make oath or affirmation in the prescribed format in person.
•RO/ARO authorised authorities before whom oath can be made.
•Oath can also be taken before certain other authorities prescribed by ECI- Jail Supdt. for
candidate in jail , Commandant of detention camp for candidate under preventive detention,
Medical Supdt of Hospital for those confined to bed in hospital, Diplomatic or consular
representative of India or any person authorized by them for candidate outside India.
•Oath to be made only after filing nomination and before the day of scrutiny.
•Certificate of oath to be given to the candidate without his applying for it.
•Onus is on candidate to produce Certificate of Oath before the RO (wherever taken before
a different authority)

Notice of nomination
RO to publish on Notice Board a notice in FORM-3A regarding nominations received upto 3 PM of
each day during the nomination filing period.
Where the Specified ARO receives nomination in a different place such ARO should also publish
such notice in FORM-3A and keep the RO informed on a daily basis.
•List of nominated candidates:-After 3 PM on last day of filing, list of nominated candidates to be
prepared.
•Format given by ECI – Handbook.
•Candidates to be classified in 3 categories- (i) Recognised parties, (ii) Registered unrecognised
parties and (iii) independents.
•Within each category, names of candidates shall be arranged alphabetically.
•Recognized parties of other States will be included in the 2nd
category (registered unrecognized
party).

ELECTION LAW
ELECTION LAW
CORRUPT PRACTICES

CORRUPT PRACTICES IN ELECTION:-
Section 2(c) of the Representation of People Act, 1951 simply says that, corrupt practices means any‖
of the practices specified in Section 123 of the Act. The elaborate definition of various corrupt
practices under Section 123 are —bribery, undue influence, appeal on the ground of religion, race,
caste, community or language and the use of appeal to religions or national symbols, promotion of
enmity or hatred between different classes of citizens on the ground of religion, race, caste,
community or language, propagation of sati, publication of false statements, hiring of vehicles or
vessels, incurring excessive expenditure, procuring the assistance of government servants, and booth
capturing.xiv Penal provisions are also in force for the offences of bribery, undue influence,
personation, false statements, illegal payments and failure to keep election accounts and in addition
several electoral offences are prescribed by the Representation of People Act, 1951 itself.

a) Bribery Any gratification made with intent to pollute the purity of elections may cover within
the corrupt practice of bribery defined under Sub-Section (1) of Section 123 of the
Representation of People Act, 1951. The evidence produced by Shri RAJNARAYAN in the high
Court the Smt. Indira Gandhi distribute wine and cash for his election is really bed and must be
countable in bribery.
b) Undue Influence: An influence in elections amounts ―undue only when abuse of influence is‖
exercised in contradiction of proper influence. Thus, legitimate canvassing or appeal to reason
and judgment of the voters by lawful means persuading them to vote or not to vote for a
candidate, is not vitiated under the law. Yet, any situation in which choice of candidate on merit
is affected due to extraneous consideration like social, economic, political or religious constrains
or any type of threat, fear or duress or falsehood which impedes or prevents the free exercise of
the franchise of an elector, is prohibited under Section 123(2) of the Representation of People
Act, 1951.

(C) APPEAL ON GROUNDS OF CASTE, RACE, COMMUNITY OR RELIGION In S.R.
Bommai v. Union of India, the Supreme Court in this context laid down that introduction of
religion into politics is not merely in negation of Constitutional mandate but also a positive
violation of Constitutional obligation, duty, responsibility and positive prescription or
prohibition specifically enjoined by the Constitution and the Representation of People Act,
1951. A political party that seeks to secure power through a religious policy or caste
orientation policy, disintegrates the people on grounds of religion and caste.
It divides the people and disrupts the social structure on grounds of religion or caste which
is obnoxious anathema to the Constitutional culture aid basic features. Appeal on grounds
of religion offends secular democracy. The Court further pointed out that Section 123(3) of
the Representation of the People Act dealing with the corrupt practice of appeal on the
ground of religion is not confined to appeal to the candidate‘s religion.

(D) Promoting Hatred or Enmity on the Ground of Religion etc.—
Section 123(3-A) The black day in Indian history 6 December 1992, when a LARGE group
of people destroyed the babri mosque shouting….―EK-DO, EK –DO…BABRI KO TOD
DO…..”.Corrupt practices under Section 123(3), appeal on the ground of religion etc. and
under Clause 123(3-A) of promotion or attempt to promote enmity or hatred between
different classes of citizens on the ground of religion, caste, etc. are both closely related. If
one is the cause, the other one is the intended result. In an appeal on the ground of religion,
race, caste, community or language, the candidate may hope to get its advantage in the
elections and may not bother for its effects on the society.
of religion is not confined to appeal to the candidate‘s religion.

(e) Publication of False Statements
The election law permits freedom of criticism of political nature at the time of election. It is in the
interest of democracy that such criticism should be allowed. But in order to maintain purity and
fairness of elections, character assassination and vilification of any candidate cannot be allowed.
Therefore, in relation to a candidate, publication of false statements by means of election speeches,
pamphlets, booklets, handbills, posters or through press or television, etc., is a corrupt practice
under Section 123(4) of the Representation of People Act, 1951.
(f) Free Conveyance of Voters Sub-Section (5) of Section 123 of the Representation of People
Act, 1951 prohibits hiring or procuring of the vehicles or vessels for transportation of voters to or
from the polling stations because this exercise may cause influence on voters and thereby hamper
free exercise of their franchise.
(g) Obtaining Services of Government Servant The role of Shri Yashpal Kapoor in the election
of INDIRA GANDHI’S election is a living example of Obtaining Services of Government Servant
in Indian election

(h) Booth Capturing :
Those who believe in the influence of muscle power in elections, do not believe in soliciting
votes from the electorate by reasoning and argument. Snatching votes by terror and
coercion is the very antithesis of democracy. In the States where booth capturing were
reported to be rampant like Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, parts of West Bengal and
Andhra Pradesh, even well equipped private armies control the poll on behalf of the vested
interests. In fact this has been one of the major reasons for the disenchantment of the
people with the sanctity of electoral process itself thereby loosing their faith in the
democratic government.
CRIMINALISATION OF POLITICS: Over the past few years we have been reading about
corruption in public life in which politicians and officials have bled the nation filling their own
coffers, diverted to personal use. Public funds have been misappropriated and have
destroyed the moral and ethical environment of the nation. Corruption has become the norm
in public life and honesty an aberration.

Corruption in public life and criminalization of politics are two sides of the same coin. Pappu yadav,
Akhilesh pratap singh, D.P. yadav and many more who use the criminal way to win the election
which is strictly prohibited in our election system. In the early days criminals and goonda elements
were by and large kept away from direct involvement in the political process, but today they have
acquired a political base of their own and are a law unto themselves. Since it is the reach of power
that determines the degree of immunity, persons with criminal antecedents have found a way to foist
themselves on the Legislature. The nexus between criminal gangs, police, bureaucracy, politicians
and industrialists has come out openly in various parts of the country. The Vohra Committee Report
gives enough hints to come to the conclusion that criminalisation of politics and corruption in high
levels is destroying the very system and edifice of our parliamentary democracy, political authorities,
the civil servants and even the judiciary.
Suggestions to curb Criminalization of Politics:-

Election Commission has the power to disqualify a candidate. The High Court and
Supreme Court should also be given the power to disqualify under writ jurisdiction.
Section 77 of Representation of People Act should be amended to include all the
expenses that are incurred during election process by the candidate for the purpose of
auditing and the assessment of assets and liabilities should continue throughout of the
year.
Setting up of special courts for the speedy trial of cases against candidates and elected
politicians.
The Chief Election Commissioner and the election commissioners should be elected by
a collegium.
The candidates should be disqualified from contesting elections if charges are framed
against him by the Court and not on the basis of conviction.
Media is supposed to be the watchdog of democracy hence it should cover real issues
effecting people and not indulge in paid news.

The prime need of the country is to secure stability of the government.
Lack of morality, floor-crossing, defections and horse-trading is needed an immediate legal
check.
Parliament must consider the legal infirmities existing in the provisions of election law relating to
entry of criminals in politics. Classification between general criminals and sitting member criminals
under Section 8 of the Representation of People Act, 1951 must be omitted.
An independent and impartial Election Commission is the essence of free and fair elections.
With regard to the eligibility of person who stands for election or becomes a member of the
Legislative body, a need has always been felt that there should be some sort of minimum
educational qualifications for them.
The corrupt practice of free carriage of voters may be avoided by installing sufficient polling
stations in the constituency so as to make it easy within the reach of maximum voters to attend the
polling station. The practice of free carriage of voters should be made a cognizable offence.

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ELECTION LAW

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