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ADR Finds Missing Reasons for Candidates Facing Criminal Cases
The Association for Democratic Reforms checked information about candidates in five assembly elections.
Many candidates had declared criminal cases in their election affidavits.
Political parties are supposed to explain why they chose such candidates.
These explanations are called Format C-7 disclosures.
ADR found that explanations were missing for 191 of 1,405 candidates with declared criminal cases.
Some parties used the same or very similar words for many different candidates.
The Supreme Court had said in 2020 that parties must publish reasons based on qualifications, achievements and merit, not only on the chance of winning.
The Election Commission later told parties to publish the information online and in newspapers.
ADR also said some disclosures might have been published in places it did not record.
ADR analysed disclosures from 3,539 candidates selected by 51 parties across five assembly elections and found 1,405 had declared criminal cases.
Parties published the required Format C-7 disclosures for 1,214 candidates, but no disclosure was available for 191, or 14 percent.
Tamil Nadu had the most missing disclosures at 72, followed by West Bengal with 55, Keralam with 27, Puducherry with 12 and Assam with 10.
ADR said many published explanations cited similar factors, including reputation, social work, experience, popularity, qualifications and suitability.
The report found repetitive or identical wording among disclosures by parties including the BJP, AIADMK, DMK and Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam, while cautioning that some disclosures may have appeared elsewhere.
- Who
- The Association for Democratic Reforms analysed disclosures from 51 political parties and 3,539 candidates.
- What
- The analysis found that parties had not made required explanations public for 191 candidates with declared criminal cases, while some published reasons were repetitive or identical.
- Where
- The elections were held in Assam, Keralam, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal and the Union Territory of Puducherry.
- When
- The elections were held earlier this year; the report also refers to a 2020 Supreme Court direction.
- Why
- Format C-7 disclosures are intended to explain why parties selected candidates with criminal cases and why they did not choose candidates without criminal antecedents.
ADR’s Transparency Concerns
Disclosure-Record Caveat
Missing explanations
ADR’s Transparency Concerns
ADR said parties failed to make the required reasons public for 191 of 1,405 candidates with declared criminal cases.
Disclosure-Record Caveat
ADR cautioned that some parties may have published disclosures elsewhere, meaning those documents may not have appeared in its records.
Specificity of reasons
ADR’s Transparency Concerns
ADR said many available explanations used repetitive or identical wording rather than reasons specific to individual candidates.
Disclosure-Record Caveat
The published explanations cited factors such as public reputation, social work, experience, popularity, qualifications and suitability for the seat.
Key facts
- Total candidates contesting
- 8,848 candidates contested the five elections.
- Candidates analysed
- ADR analysed 3,539 candidates selected by 51 political parties.
- Candidates with criminal cases
- 1,405 candidates had declared criminal cases in their election affidavits.
- Missing disclosures
- Format C-7 disclosures were unavailable for 191 candidates, or 14 percent of those with declared criminal cases.
- Most missing disclosures
- Tamil Nadu had 72 unavailable disclosures, followed by West Bengal with 55.
- Required disclosure
- Format C-7 must explain the selection of a candidate with criminal cases and why a candidate without criminal antecedents was not chosen.
- Publication rule
- The Supreme Court directed parties in 2020 to publish reasons within 72 hours of selecting such candidates; the Election Commission later required publication on websites, social media and in newspapers.
Sources
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