E-Paper
Election panel favours special court to try VIPs
The Election Commission has favoured setting up special courts to expedite trial involving politicians and bureaucrats.
The Election Commission has favoured setting up special courts to expedite trial involving politicians and bureaucrats.
The poll body took this stand before the Supreme Court in public interest litigation (PIL) that also wants debarring of convicted politicians from forming a political outfit and becoming a party office bearer.
Regarding the convicted politicians, the poll body said its stand was not adversarial to that of the petitioner – a lawyer — and that it “espoused the cause” raised by him.
The EC informed the top court that its recommendations for de-criminalisation of politics were pending with the law ministry. Various other measures have been suggested by it, including ban on paid news, proscribing political advertisements 48 hours before polls and amendment in the election law to check bribing of voters and enforcing the limit of election expense.