E-Paper
HC seeks criminal antecedents of MPs, MLAs
HEARING A writ petition alleging abduction of voters during the Zila Panchayat election, the Allahabad High Court has sought a report from the Principal Secretary (Home) and also from the Election Commission of India about the details of criminal cases pending against all the MPs and MLAs from Uttar Pradesh, who may have criminal antecedents.
HEARING A writ petition alleging abduction of voters during the Zila Panchayat election, the Allahabad High Court has sought a report from the Principal Secretary (Home) and also from the Election Commission of India about the details of criminal cases pending against all the MPs and MLAs from Uttar Pradesh, who may have criminal antecedents.
Likewise, the court directed the Principal Secretary (Home) and State Election Commission to submit report containing details of criminal cases pending against all elected Zila Panchayat chairmen and block pramukhs so that directions may be issued for expeditious disposal of the trials in these cases and for monitoring the same.
Passing these directives, a division bench comprising Justice Imtiyaz Murtaza and Justice Amar Saran observed, “As there have been many similar allegations of pollution of the electoral process by abduction of voters, and criminalisation of politics has become a cancer in our society, therefore, it is expedient in the interest of justice to call for such reports”.
The court directed the government advocate to furnish the list of pending criminal cases of those MPs, MLAs of UP and block pramukhs and chairmen of Zila Panchayat, who possess criminal antecedents. The court directed to list this case in the second week of July, 2006 for next hearing.
The court passed this order on a writ petition (no- 5695 of 2006) filed by Karan Singh after hearing senior advocate Satish Trivedi for the petitioner and government advocate Vijay Shankar Mishra, who represented the State government.
Passing these directives, the court further observed, “These orders are necessary because it is imperative that lawbreakers do not become lawmakers and after conviction steps can be taken for removal of such criminal politicians from their public offices. Such criminals use all means, fair and foul, to be elected to public office and on being elected they are only engaged in propagation of their self-interest, scuttling their criminal trials and in protection of wrong doers like themselves. These situation has become so bad that criminal politicians are not only engaged in committing crimes and murders of lay persons in society for furthering their ends, but have even begun to target other political rivals, and at last, political parties are showing some willingness to permit action against criminals who have secured political offices.”
In the present case, it is alleged that members of Zila Panchayat, who supported Devki Rani, who belonged to one political party for the post of chairmen of the Zila Panchayat, Hamirpur, were abducted and not allowed to vote resulting in the election of the candidate of rival political party, Madhu Devi, by a margin of 7 to 0. It is alleged that even Devki Rani was not allowed to vote.
It is further alleged that when despite pressure and persuation, Devki Rani and her supporters did not bow down, they were threatened and two FIRs containing false and frivolous allegations were lodged against them and that even the district administration had a role to play in these illegal acts.
The petitioner, who is an elected member of Zila Panchayat, Hamirpur, has filed this writ petition with a request to transfer the investigation of above mentioned two cases from civil police to CBI.
