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People's representatives in our democracy are benign



In all the hot debate over rapes and crimes against women in India, we should remember that just after Nirbhaya case in December 2012, a special 3-member commission was set up to recommend amendments to the Criminal Law so as to provide for quicker trial and enhanced punishment for criminals accused of committing sexual assault against women, which can today be googled by the tags “Verma Commission”.

The commission took the liberty to suggest amendments in the Representation of People’s act 1951. Let’s analyze what has been done about it 5 years down the line.

Suggestion No. 1 was to "eliminate" those representatives with criminal antecedents. however, 34% of MP’s elected in 2014 had criminal charges against them, 21% had serious criminal cases (ibtimes). 30% of candidates in the Bihar elections had criminal cases against them, (TheHindu). The most recent study by Association of Democratic Reforms (19 April, 2018) has stated that 1580 MP’s/MLA’s have criminal cases against them, of which 48 have declared cases against crimes against women.

Suggestion No. 2 was that any nomination for election candidate should be validated by the high court as well as the returning officer, who is often a government officer or a local authority designated by the EC.

No. 3 on the list, that if a magistrate recognizes an offence mentioned in Section 8(1) of the act, the candidate ought to be disqualified from participating in the electoral process. It has been granted by the Election Commission of India 

No. 4 calls for amendment and inclusion of all henious crimes under section 8(1), however, no such amendment could be traced by me yet.*

Suggestion 5, that failure of procuring correct criminal records should lead to disqualification subsequently. This has at least been realized by the supreme court of India (livemint).

No. 6, suggesting that assets of all the candidates be scrutinized, has taken a step up. The spouse’s and children’s assets will also scrutinized, said the Supreme Court (Economic Times). However, Karnataka polls’ affidavits have disclosed that many politicians have seen rising income since 2013, their previous tenure. Their wealth is mind-boggling. (The New Indian Express).

7th recommendation is an open laugh, appealing to “morality” of the elected representatives if they have cases for heinous crimes, to give up their position of power as a sign of respect to the parliament.

Suggestion 8, asking political parties to not nominate candidates with criminal antecedents is another humourless chuckle, since in the very upcoming Karnataka elections, congress has 32%, and BJP has 29% candidates with criminal cases (dnaindia).

So this is where we are on one aspect of the Verma recommendations. We surmise that no matter how many suggestions may be made, our beloved political parties and elected politicians will do just as they please, and they certainly get very pleased when exploiting those who elect them. 


*If you have leads to any amendment done to section 8(1) of the People's Representatives Act, do comment and let the world know. 

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