Hyderabad: The Supreme Court’s latest orders on publicising the criminal records of contesting candidates in elections will come into force in the upcoming Telangana Assembly elections.
The Election Commission of India will release a notification of the implementation of the apex court's orders in this regard with immediate effect.
However, the ECI is likely to exempt the expenditure incurred on publicising the criminal records in the print and electronic media from the overall poll expenditure limit of candidates.
The ECI is learnt to have alerted the chief electoral officers of all states about the apex court's orders that were issued on Tuesday and gave clear indications that the orders would be implemented by the ECI straight away in the upcoming elections.
The SC orders will come into effect for the first time in the Assembly elections to be held in Telangana, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Mizoram, due in November/December this year.
There are indications that the Telangana Assembly elections will be held first, in the third or fourth week of November, followed by the four other states in December. The results of all states will be announced on the same day so that the results of one state do not impact elections in others.
Official sources said: “A new format will be released by ECI soon to prescribe how candidates should publicise their criminal records without giving scope for manipulation or misrepresentation of facts or gain undue publicity in media by exploiting the new rule. These declarations by candidates should also be posted on the websites of thier political parties.”
The ECI is considering exempting expenditure on this exercise from the overall campaign budget of candidates, taking into consideration the high cost of advertising.
