Weed out dirt in polls
Recent judgments of the Supreme Court, meant to separate the political class from the criminal class, has wide appeal among the people. Especially noteworthy in this connection is the verdict which no longer accepts the plea that a MLA or MP may stay put as member of the House while appealing to a higher court against the judgment of a lower court.
The energy of the judiciary is needed to weed out undesirable elements from our legislatures as the ensuing cleansing of politics will have a crucial bearing on the fight against corruption.
In the same broad direction is the apex court order of last Friday that a candidate for Parliament or state Assembly, while filing his nomination papers, must not leave blank columns in the accompanying affidavit that may enable the Returning Officer (RO) to determine whether the candidate fulfils eligibility criteria. In effect, this means a man who has been convicted for a certain class of crimes will find it harder to contest.
Now ROs have been given powers to reject the nomination of a person who doesn’t furnish relevant information even after being reminded. Conceptually, this is a great first hurdle to deter unworthy elements. On the ground much will depend on how practical it is for ROs to carry out the judgment unflinchingly, for local toughs can sometimes bring inordinate pressure on the official acting in the name of the Election Commission.
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