Author: Shruti, from Shri Ramswaroop Memorial University
To the Point
Criminalisation itself has a major meaning which commitment of wrongful act with wrongful intention and which is increasing day by day. Criminalisation of politics means that political system in India is getting crime oriented day by day. It means that within the political system more wrongful acts are getting performed by the political people who holds the public offices which is not good for the people of the country and also not for the democratic system in the country. The democracy of the country is getting affected by the illegal activities of the political parties to gain seats and occupy public offices by killing, making cheating to the people and making the false promises and gaining votes by illegal activities. Criminalisation of politics starts at a stage where the people involved in the crime start to hold the public offices and when once they acquire it they increase the crime more and more by their bad intentions which harm the people of the country. Through their financial stability they support the crime and also influence the laws. When too many political parties started to form then the country started to divide because it does not lead to the National integrity. It means dividing the people under different parties sometimes on the basis of caste and religion also. Corruption and storage of the black money is one of the important crime by the political parties. According to the report from 2004 criminalisation of the politics start taking place. There are many causes of the criminalisation of the politics such as first one is the selection of the criminal individual by the political parties. Many individuals are also attached with the political parties with the criminal background and the political parties support them. Greed for money is also the one of the important factor of the criminalisation. Election laws has many loopholes and arbitrariness and cheating which leads to the criminalisation. It causes a very bad effect on the society.
Use of Legal Jargon
Criminalisation of politics is an issue which cannot be ignored and section 8 of the Representation of the People Act is an important section which deals with the disqualification of individual who is convicted of crime from taking part in the election. Affidavit is also an important document used during the election in which the information of the nominee and its background and financial record is mentioned. Due to the criminal intent democracy of the country got affected.
Proof
In 1983 Vohra Committee was made to check the criminal intent in the politics. Because politics is not smooth and fair and from very beginning there is a presence of a criminal intent. Politics is never free from crime earlier it is quite less but today it has increased to a great extent. So, the Vohra Committee check the criminal intent and also provide the way to prevent and deal with it. Also the committee gave many suggestion such as to disqualify the criminal individual and the parties should open about the criminal history of their nominee and also they are out from fighting election. But as the time passes the rate of the crime increases and after 2004 it has increased to a great extent and even now crime is prevailing in the politics and it has become the root of the politics. In the law commission 244th report, nominee should be disqualified if charges is framed against the nominee 1 year before the election and the offence punishment is at least 5 years or more. For the crime in politics special courts were made and in 2017, 12 special courts were made by the union government to deal with the cases immediately. There are also many other approaches made by the government such as amending the election laws and the Representation of the People Act.
Abstract
This article is important to bring the awareness regarding the criminalization of the politics in India because it would effect the democracy of the country and the people who are depending on the democracy of the country. The article discusses about how the crime took place in the politics and how it grows through the time and what are the reforms and actions taken by government to cope with it. And the government working on it to deal with it.
Conclusion
Crime wherever it is present it is major threat to the society and its people. In this article crime in politics is discussed. How one occupy the public offices using the crime by making the existence of fair terrible. And crime in the politics effect the country in a very bad way so it is important for the government to take actions and to take steps to deal with it and to prevent further time. For this government has brought many reforms and measures such as special courts were established to cope with it.
Case Laws
- Association for Democratic Reforms v. Union of India(2002)
In this case it was held that all the nominee who are participating in the election and are representing the political parties has to submit the documents such as age proof, place of residence, financial condition and many more.
- Ramesh Dalal v. Union of India(2005)
This case held that if an MLA or MP are convicted and had imprisonment for 2 years then they cannot fight the election.
- Public Interest Foundation v. Union of India(2019)
This case present that if an criminal record is present for the political parties then they should have to publish it.
FAQs
- Is the presence of crime in politics is important?
We cannot say that crime presence is good thing for the politics. No matter whatever reason can be given crime is wrongful act and it cannot be changed.
- Is punishment is sufficient for crime?
No, punishment all alone is not sufficient for crime, there should be awareness among the political leaders that how their actions can effect the general public of the country.
