CHANDIGARH: The candidate as well as the concerned political party shall issue a declaration in the widely circulated newspapers in the locality about the antecedents of the candidate and also give wide publicity in the electronic media. Wide publicity means the same shall be done at least thrice after filing of the nomination papers.
Divulging details, Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Punjab Dr S Karuna Raju on Thursday informed that concerned political party shall be obligated to put up on its website information pertaining to candidates having criminal antecedents. He said that it shall be mandatory for political parties (at the central and state election level) to upload on their website detailed information regarding individuals with pending criminal cases (including the nature of the offences, and relevant particulars such as whether charges have been framed, the concerned Court, the case number etc.) who have been selected as candidates, along with the reasons for such selection, as also as to why other individuals without criminal antecedents could not be selected as candidates. The reasons as to selection shall be with reference to the qualification, achievements and merit of the candidates concerned, and not mere "winnability" at the polls, he added.
CEO further informed that the political party also need to publish information regarding criminal antecedents of the candidates in at least one local vernacular newspaper and one national newspaper besides on their official social media platforms, including Facebook & Twitter.
He said that these details shall be published within 48 hours of the selection of the candidate or not less than two weeks before the first date for filing of nominations, whichever is earlier.
The political party concerned shall then submit a report of compliance with these directions with the ECI within 72 hours of the selection of the said candidate. If a political party fails to submit such compliances report with the Election Commission, the Election Commission shall bring such non-compliance by the political party concerned to the notice of the Supreme Court as being in contempt of this Court’s orders/directions, he said.
The CEO further pointed out that for ensuring periodic awareness of electors during the campaign, the Commission has now prescribed the timeline for publicity of criminal antecedents by Political Parties and Contesting Candidates during the period starting from the day following the last date of withdrawal i.e. February 4, 2022 and up to 48 hours before ending with the hour fixed for conclusion of poll.
As per the timeline, first advertisement shall be given within first 4 days of withdrawal of nominations, second shall be given between next 5th-8th days, while the third advertisement to be given from 9th day till the last day of campaign (the second day prior to date of poll).
The CEO informed that the concerned political party and candidates would have to get this declaration published in the newspapers in a particular region thrice in 12 font size at appropriate place.
He said that advertisements have to be appeared in at least one National Daily Newspaper having circulation beyond 75000 as stated by DAVP/Audit Bureau of Circulation in publicity available records and one Local Vernacular Daily Newspaper published within geographical territory of the State/UT, in the local vernacular language, with a circulation of at least 25000, as stated by DAVP/Audit Bureau of Circulation in publicity available records.
The same may be telecasted for at least seven seconds in the prescribed format for TV Channels to ensure the implementation of the directions in letter and spirit, he said, while adding that the publicity of information regarding criminal past of the candidates shall be telecasted on TV Channels from 8:00 am to 10:00 pm in local language or English.
The concerned candidates and political parties would furnish the requisite information in the prescribed format i.e. form C-4 and C-5 to the District Election Officers and Chief Electoral Officer respectively.
He also clarified that criminal proceedings under section 123 (4) of Peoples’ Representation Act and under section 51 and 171 (G) of the Indian Penal Code would be initiated in case the candidate furnishes wrong information. Dr Raju further reiterated that such advertisement was to be got published from only those candidates, who were either convicted or having pending criminal cases.
He further informed that candidates with criminal past are required to clearly mention the title of the case with number and status along with the details of the case under item no. 5 of form 26. If the status of the case is changed after filing the nomination papers by the candidates, it will be up to the candidate that whether he wants to apprise concerned Returning Officer or not about the notification in this regard, he added.
He also clarified that those candidates, who have not been either convicted or there is no pending criminal case against them need not to publish such advertisements.
The CEO stated that the expenditure of advertisements in this regard would be incurred by the political Party and the Candidates, which would be added in the election expenses. He also mentioned that Returning Officers could not enquire about the authenticity of claims made by the candidates regarding criminal past for disseminating information being published in newspapers and telecast on TV Channels.
CEO further said that the candidate should publicise their criminal antecedents in C-1 format in newspapers and TV channels similarly political parties should publicise criminal antecedents in C-2 format in newspapers and TV channels apart from this returning officer will issue reminder in this regard to the concerned candidate in format C-3.
In pursuance of this, Election Commission issued detailed instructions on 10th October, 2018. In its directions, it prescribed six forms for the following purposes:
Formats
Action to be taken by
Platform
C1
Candidates
Newspaper & TV
C2
Political Parties
Newspaper, TV & Political Party’s Website
C3
Returning Officer
Reminder to the Candidate
C4
Candidate to DEO
Report to be submitted before the DEO (in case of elections to Lok Sabha and Vidhan Sabha) or the RO (in case of elections to Rajya Sabha and Vidhan Parishad)
C5
Political Parties to CEO of the State concerned
Report about publishing of the declaration
C6
CEO to the Commission
Report regarding compliance by the Political Parties
The Commission, in pursuance to this, on 6th March, 2020 prescribed two more forms for compliance by the political parties
Formats
Action to be taken by
Purpose
C7
Political Parties
Newspapers, Social Media Platforms and Website of the Party
C8
Political Parties to Commission
Report of compliance of the Political Party