Reject nomination papers if criminal past, assets not disclosed: Supreme Court

The Supreme Court ruled that a candidate shall not be allowed to contest election for non-disclosure of information.

The Supreme Court on Friday ruled that a candidate shall not be allowed to contest election for non-disclosure and suppression of information, including that of assets and his criminal background saying it will violate voters' right to know their would be representative.

Will not review disqualification order on MPs, says SC

The apex court said that the returning officer of the Election Commission is empowered to reject the nomination paper of a candidate if he fails to provide all the required information and to fill the blanks in the paper after being reminded.

"It is the duty of the returning officer to check whether the information required is fully furnished at the time of filing of affidavit with the nomination paper since such information is very vital for giving effect to the right to know of the citizens.

"If a candidate fails to fill the blanks even after the reminder by the officer, the nomination paper is fit to be rejected," a bench headed by Chief Justice P Sathasivam said.

Related: SC bars convicted MPs, MLAs from office

It said "the candidate must take the minimum effort to explicitly remark as 'NIL' or 'Not Applicable' or 'Not known' in the columns and not to leave the particulars blank.

"In succinct, if the Election Commission accepts the nomination papers in spite of blank particulars in the affidavits, it will directly violate the fundamental right of the citizen to know the criminal antecedents, assets and liabilities and educational qualification of the candidate," the bench, also comprising justices Ranjana Prakash Desai and Ranjan Gogoi, said.

"Thus, in unequivocal terms, it is recognized that citizen's right to know of the candidate who represents him in the Parliament will constitute an integral part of Article 19(1)(a) of the Constitution (freedom of speech and expression) and any act, which is derogative of the fundamental rights is at the very outset ultra vires." it said.