Summary:
New Delhi: A Public Interest Litigation (PIL) was filed in the Supreme Court on Saturday seeking direction for taking action against political parties and contesting candidates for allegedly misusing religion for electoral gains. The apex court is likely to take up the matter for hearing on July 4. The petition further stated that to ensure free and fair election, a bill was introduced in the Lok Sabha in 1994 and an amendment was proposed providing for provision to question before a High Court, acts of misuse of religion by political parties. The PIL, filed by apex court lawyer and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader, Ashwini Upadhyay, sought a direction to the Central Government and Election Commission of India (ECI) to take appropriate steps to restrict the misuse of religion by the contesting candidates and political parties for electoral gain, as suggested by the ECI in its Proposed Electoral Reform. The Bill lapsed on the dissolution of the Lok Sabha in 1996 and again in 2010, the ECI proposed that the provision in that Bill should be considered again, but the executive did nothing in this regard till date..