Give us the right to de-register political parties, Election Commission asks Supreme Court

The Election Commission has demanded the right to cancel the registration of political parties. The EC has made this demand in an affidavit filed in the Supreme Court over a public interest litigation (PIL) questioning formation of political parties by convicted persons.

The poll body also pointed that as of now, it has no right to take action against parties violating election rules, demanding that the law must be changed to ensure that the EC gets the right to act in this regard.

In its reply, the Election Commission has stated that it has been requesting subsequent governments for the past 20 years to change the law, but nothing has been done in this regard till now.

While the EC has submitted its response to the PIL before the Supreme Court, the central government is yet to file its reply.

The PIL, filed by lawyer and activist Ashwini Upadhyay, has also demanded that those convicted of any crime must not be allowed to hold party posts. It adds that if a party keeps a convicted person as its office bearer, the registration of such political party must be cancelled with immediate effect.

However, the top court has said that it would not look into the issue of convicted persons being a part of any political party or forming a different party, but would consider EC’s demand to get the power to de-register a political party.

The next hearing in the case will be held on Monday.