A petition has been filed in the Supreme Court seeking a direction to the Election Commission of India (ECI) to frame rules for the registration and regulation of political parties, with the aim of ensuring secularism, transparency, and political justice.
The plea, filed by advocate Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay through lawyer Ashwani Kumar Dubey, alleged that the absence of statutory rules has enabled “bogus political parties” to flourish, many of which appoint individuals with criminal backgrounds—including kidnappers, drug smugglers, and money launderers—as office bearers in exchange for money.
The petition cited instances where separatist groups had floated political parties solely to collect donations. It also claimed that some office bearers of such parties had managed to obtain police protection.
Referring to a recent media report, the plea alleged that the Income Tax Department unearthed a “fake” political party that was “converting black money into white by deducting 20 per cent commission.”
“Transparency and accountability in the working of political parties are essential in public interest as they perform public function and, therefore, ECI must frame rules and regulations for them,” the plea said.
It further stressed that the Supreme Court has in the past initiated various reforms to promote probity in public life, and extending such reforms to regulate political parties would pave the way for a more robust democratic system.
In the alternative, the petitioner urged the court to direct the Law Commission of India to study best practices from developed democracies and prepare a comprehensive report on registration and regulation of political parties, with the objective of curbing corruption and criminalisation in politics.
The matter is likely to be taken up by the apex court in the coming days.
