Law Commission 244th report
Also called: Electoral disqualifications report (2014) · Topic: Electoral Reforms: Money, Criminalisation and Simultaneous Elections · NCERT: Beyond NCERT
Meaning
The Law Commission's 244th report (2014) deals with criminalisation of politics, which means people facing criminal cases entering politics. It recommended that a person be disqualified from contesting once a court frames charges, that is, formally accuses them, for an offence punishable with five years or more. As a safeguard, the charges must have been framed at least a year before nomination papers are scrutinised. This would stop people filing fake cases just before an election. The aim was to act before a conviction, since trials take years. Parliament has not enacted it.
Example
Today a candidate facing a pending murder charge can still contest, because only a conviction disqualifies. Under the 244th report's plan, that candidate would have been barred if the charge had been framed a year before scrutiny.
Don't confuse with
- Public Interest Foundation case (2018): there the Supreme Court refused to create this charge-stage bar itself. It said only Parliament can add a disqualification, because of the presumption of innocence and the separation of powers.
Related concepts
- Disqualification on conviction
- Lily Thomas case
- Public Interest Foundation case
- Special courts for MPs and MLAs