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Supreme Court notice on convicts in party posts

Taking up a petition filed by lawyer Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay, the bench comprising Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra and Justices AM Khanwilkar and DY Chandrachud issued notice to the respondents.

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The Supreme Court Friday sought the responses of the Centre and the Election Commission on a PIL seeking to restrain convicted politicians from holding any posts in political parties.

Taking up a petition filed by lawyer Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay, the bench comprising Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra and Justices AM Khanwilkar and DY Chandrachud issued notice to the respondents. The PIL seeks directions to the Centre and the Election Commission to frame guidelines to decriminalise the electoral system and ensure inner-party democracy as proposed by the National Commission to Review the Working of the Constitution (NCRWC).

The bench also agreed to examine the validity and contours of Section 29A of the Representation of People Act, 1951, which deals with registration of political parties with the Election Commission.
Appearing for the petitioner, senior advocate Siddharth Luthra told the bench that while convicted politicians are barred under law from contesting elections, they can still run a political party, thereby deciding as to who becomes a lawmaker. 

The petition also names several politicians who have been convicted or have charges framed against them but continue to hold posts in political parties and "wielding political power." It points out that now even a person who has been convicted for heinous crimes like murder, rape, smuggling, money laundering, loot, sedition, or dacoity can form a political party and become its president.

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