EFFECT OF ELECTORAL REFORMS ORDINANCE
AND AMENDMENT OF CONDUCT OF ELECTION RULES
The combined effect
of the Representation of the People (Amendment) Ordinance, 2002
promulgated on August 24, 2002 and the subsequent amendment to
the Conduct of Election Rules 1961, notified in the Gazette of
India on September 3, 2002 to give effect to the Supreme Court
judgement of May 2, 2002 with special reference to voter’s right
to information regarding the candidate he is voting for, will
be that a candidate to an election to the Parliament or State
Legislature would be required to furnish information regarding
his conviction , if any, under Section 8 of the Representation
of the People Act, 1951 as per the provisions of Section 33A of
the Ordinance. Under Section 8, a person is disqualified from
contesting elections and for being a member of the Legislature
if he is convicted for certain certified offences.
Under Section 33A
of the Ordinance, a candidate would be required to furnish information
whether he has been accused of any offence punishable with imprisonment
for two years or more in a pending case in which a charge has
been framed and whether he has been convicted for an offence other
than those mentioned in Section 8 of the Representation of the
People Act, 1951 or sentenced to imprisonment for one year or
more.
The notification issued
by the Government in consultation with the Election Commission
of India would now provide statutory basis for the information
to be given by a candidate for which the Election Commission has
issued instructions under Article 324 of the Constitution in 1998.
The Election Commission of India had issued instructions to the
candidates in 1997 for providing information regarding any conviction
for an offence. Later on, it had revised the affidavit to be furnished
by the candidates, confining information only to conviction under
Section 8 of the Representation of the People Act, 1951.
The
notification issued by the Government also prescribes the form
of affidavit to be given by the candidates for providing information
under newly inserted Section 33A in the Representation of the
People Act, 1951.
