The Supreme Court in February 2020 directed that all political parties disclose the details of pending criminal cases against contesting candidates along with reasons for their selection. The ECI issued detailed guidelines following these directions. As we come closer to Bihar assembly elections, here is what to expect about these disclosures. Earlier this year, the Supreme Court directed political parties to disclose the reasons behind selecting candidates with pending criminal charges instead of those with cleaner records. The verdict was aimed at decriminalizing politics and also increasing transparency. This to be done by ensuring that the citizens get adequate information about the candidates and that they make an informed choice during the elections. The Election Commission of India (ECI) has consolidated these directions ahead of the Bihar legislative assembly elections by setting up fixed timelines for publishing the details of pending criminal cases of the candidates. Factly had already discussed the various judgements and legal provisions that resulted in the disclosure of criminal antecedents by candidates and political parties over the years, in earlier stories. This story explains what the latest developments with respect to the disclosure are. SC directed political parties to publish reasons for choosing candidates with pending criminal cases over those with clean records In February 2020, the Supreme Court, having noted the increasing proportion of MPs with pending criminal cases against them, directed that the political parties must publish detailed information about the pending criminal cases against the party candidates such as the nature of offences, whether charges have been framed, concerned Court, and case number, along with reasons of selection, and why other candidates without criminal antecedents were not selected. The reasons should be based on qualifications, merit, and achievements of the candidates. All these details are supposed to be uploaded on the websites of the political parties. Additionally, the aforesaid information must also be published in a local vernacular newspaper and a national newspaper, and on the official social media platforms of the party including Facebook and Twitter. The expenses for publishing these details will be counted as election expenditure since these are connected to the elections. The details are to be published within 48 hours of selection of candidate or not less than 2 weeks before the first date for filing nomination, whichever is earlier. Also, the political party, within 72 hours of selection of candidate, must submit a compliance report with the ECI in the specified formats. Three time-blocks have been specified by the ECI for publishing the details As per the latest notification of the Election Commission of India (ECI), even the uncontested returned candidates must make their criminal antecedents public, just like those contesting elections. The details pertaining to criminal cases must be published on three occasions during the campaign period which have been specified in the latest notification, so as to ensure that voters get adequate time to know about the background of such candidates- For instance, if the last date for withdrawal of nomination in an election is 10 January and the poll is on 24 January, then the first publication of the necessary information should be done between 11 and 14 January. The second publication would be between January 15 and 18 January, and the third would be between 19 and 22 of January. Political parties are also bound to disclose details of the candidates they have chosen, as per the February 2020 judgement of the apex court even if the candidature is rejected or withdrawn before the elections. Furthermore, in order to streamline the existing Formats as prescribed by the ECI and in compliance of the Supreme Court’s order, the ECI has modified by making suitable changes to Formats C1, C2, and C3. Format C1 contains the details for the candidate to publish in website, newspapers, and on television, while Format C2 contains the same information for the political parties. Format C3 is a reminder to the candidate to publish the information revealed in Form C1 in the media. Additionally, a Form C4 is to be submitted as a declaration of publishing the necessary details along with copies of the newspapers in which the information was published and the account of election expenses within 30 days of declaration of result of election. Bihar elections will be the first after the SC’s order The upcoming Bihar assembly elections scheduled to take place towards the end of October & beginning of November, would be the first major election to be held after the apex court’s directions in February 2020.