New Delhi, March 31
Armed with the March 13 verdict of the Supreme Court the Election Commission today issued guidelines for candidates making it mandatory for them to declare their criminal antecedents, assets and liabilities and educational qualification through an affidavit.
However, the Election Commission order clarified that failure to provide right information by the candidate about their antecedents would not attract summary enquiry and rejection of their nomination papers on the ground of furnishing wrong information or suppressing material information.
The guidelines have been framed on the basis of the Supreme Court order on March 13 when it upheld the commission’s earlier directives and struck down the constitution amendment to the Representation of the People Act.
Every candidate while filing nomination papers for any election to the Rajya Sabha, Lok Sabha, legislative Assemblies or councils of states will furnish complete information on pending criminal cases and past involvement in such cases to safeguard the “right to information vested in the voter”.
“There is no good reason for excluding the pending cases (against a candidate) in which cognisance has been taken by court from the ambit of disclosure”, the commission said in its nine-page order which also contained the guidelines as per the Supreme Court verdict.
It, however, said, “Verification of assets and liabilities by means of summary enquiry and rejection of nomination papers on the ground of furnishing wrong information or suppressing material information is not enforceable”, reversing its earlier directive.
It observed that non-furnishing of affidavit by any candidate would be considered to be violative of the court’s order and that nomination of such candidate could be liable to rejection by the returning officer at the time of scrutiny of nominations for such non-furnishing of the affidavit.
The information so furnished by each candidate in the affidavit shall be disseminated by the respective returning officers by displaying a copy of the affidavit on the notice board of his office and also by making the copies thereof available freely and liberally to all other candidates and the representatives of the print and electronic media.
If any rival candidate furnishes information to the contrary by means of a duly sworn affidavit then such affidavit of the rival candidate shall also be disseminated along with the affidavit of the candidate concerned in the manner directed above.
All returning officers shall ensure that the copies of affidavit prescribed by the commission are delivered to the candidates along with the forms of nomination papers as part of the nomination paper. These guidelines would come into force with immediate effect and the elections to three Rajya Sabha seats in Kerala would be held under the new guidelines, Election Commission sources said.
