The February 2020 order pushes the envelope further on restricting criminal candidates from contesting elections A February 2020 Supreme Court judgment on criminalisation in politics may have far-reaching consequences for Indian democracy. It will first be implemented in the coming Bihar elections in October 2020. The Court has asked the political parties to state “the reasons for […]
Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) were first conceived by the Election Commission of India (ECI) as a replacement for the ballot paper and the ballot box in 1977. The design and development of the machine was entrusted to a public sector undertaking, the Electronics Corporation of India Ltd (ECIL) in Hyderabad which developed a prototype by […]
Unless we disqualify criminal candidates from standing for elections, our legislatures will keep getting more and more tainted The Supreme Court this week came down heavily on criminalisation of politics. It asked political parties to explain why they need to give tickets to people with criminal backgrounds. The court also asked them to publicise widely, […]
General Elections 2014 marked social media platforms as a major tool to impact the dynamics of politics. It is no news that social media played a key role to spread fake news, hate speech, and paid news to mislead voters. Hence, prior to the Lok Sabha 2019, Election Commission of India (ECI), along with the […]
In disallowing voters from knowing the identity of donors, the scheme is even more opaque now Last month, an investigative series on electoral bonds by independent journalist Nitin Sethi, with the help of Right to Information (RTI) activist Commodore Lokesh Batra (retd), exposed how the BJP leadership misled the Election Commission (EC) and Parliament on […]
The idea of social media as a force-multiplier in politics has gained virality in our minds, especially in last four years. According to Datareportal’s Digital 2019: India report, 1 out of total population of 1.361 billion, around 41% i.e. 560 million Indians are active users of internet and total no. of active social media users […]
Systemic corruption and sponsored criminalization have corroded the fundamental core of elective democracy and consequently, the constitutional governance. On one hand there is a free flow of unaccounted money at the disposal of political parties during elections and on the other hand, criminal elements have been playing a major role in the electoral process in […]
देश के किसी भी सिस्टम में कमियां ख़त्म नहीं होंगी जब तक पोलिटिकल सिस्टम में कमियां ख़त्म नहीं होंगी, कानून को लागु करने के लिए संस्थाएं हैं, उन संस्थाओं के ऊपर भी पोलिटिकल कण्ट्रोल हैं, डायरेक्ट या इनडायरेक्ट यह एक अलग बात है लेकिन कानून व्यवस्था और क्रिमिनल जस्टिस सिस्टम काम नहीं कर सकता जब […]
The very folks who gave us RTI Act are screaming blue murder as political parties are brought under the transparency regime. Their apprehensions are misplaced and arguments misinformed. June 3, 2013 turned out to be very similar to July 8, 2002. How and why? On June 3, 2013, the central information commission (CIC) announced a […]
The debate stealing the limelight in the past few weeks has been about the new fervor in the government to control the burgeoning problem of black money in the country. Prime minister Narendra Modi has been reiterating his pledge to battle black money, roping in Indian banks to unveil the wealth that has been stored […]