look news india
Big news is coming out from the highest court of the country i.e. the Supreme Court in a very important and discussed case regarding political corruption and election funding. The Supreme Court has flatly refused to hear the Public Interest Litigation (PIL) demanding a Special Investigation Team (SIT) or CBI investigation into serious allegations of political parties taking money from candidates and selling tickets during elections in Uttar Pradesh and other states of the country. The court made it clear in its decision that judicial interference in such policy and political matters is not appropriate. After the rejection of this petition, a debate has once again erupted in the political circles on whether any concrete legal reforms are needed to bring transparency in the Indian election system and the process of party ticket distribution.
This entire legal matter is related to the role of black money within electoral politics and alleged corruption in ticket distribution. The petitioner had filed a PIL in the Supreme Court alleging that political parties in various states of the country, including Uttar Pradesh, sell tickets to their favorites or those who pay huge amounts during the Assembly and Lok Sabha elections, thereby ignoring the hard work of common and honest workers. It was also said in the petition that due to such illegal transactions and electoral corruption, criminalization of politics is increasing rapidly and the general public is losing faith in democracy. The petitioner had demanded that a high-level independent inquiry should be conducted into the financial transactions of political parties and the process of ticket distribution during elections so that milk can be mixed with water.
When the case came up for hearing before the Chief Justice of India (CJI) or the concerned Supreme Court, the court refused to even consider the merits of the petition. The judges of the Supreme Court made strict remarks saying that the court cannot directly interfere in the internal working of political parties, ticket distribution methods and election strategies. The court also said that such matters come under the ambit of policy matters and for this, Parliament, Election Commission of India and political parties need to make reforms at their own level. The petition was dismissed after the court observed that although political correctness and transparency are necessary, every political or administrative system cannot be monitored by the judiciary.
Even though the Supreme Court has refused to hear this particular petition, there has been a long-running debate in the country regarding ticket distribution and money games during elections. Political analysts believe that until the political parties of the country strengthen their internal democracy and make their sources of funding completely transparent, such allegations will continue to be made. The Election Commission also keeps making stringent rules from time to time to monitor the expenditure and donations of political parties, but a lot remains to be done to make the ticket distribution system more accountable at the grassroots level. After this decision, now the entire onus has once again fallen on the Election Commission and Parliament as to how they can make the electoral politics of the country more clean and fair.
