It has been observed by the Supreme Court of India that it is not an absolute right of the voters to know about all the assets of the candidates standing for the upcoming Lok Sabha Elections 2024.
New Delhi: The Lok Sabha Elections 2024 are round the corner and ahead of the polls that will be held in seven phases, a lot has been happening in the political world across the nation. Amid the whole Electoral Bonds Case, the Supreme Court of India has now, in a different case, has observed that the voters are not entitled to know about all assets of the candidates standing for elections. To quote the apex court, it is not the ‘absolute right’ of the voters to know about every asset of the candidates. Who has said this, in which case and what does that imply, read to know in detail…
‘Not An Absolute Right For Voters To Know About All Assets Of Candidates’
As mentioned earlier, today, the Supreme Court has observed that to know about each and every asset of the candidates standing for the elections is not the ‘absolute right’ of the voters. The bench of Justice Aniruddha Bose and Justice PV Sanjay Kumar said, “It is not an absolute right for any voter to delve deep into the private life of a candidate and each and every disclosure has to be of such nature which will impact the voting.”
Supreme Court Emphasizes On Right To Privacy Of Candidates
The top court has also said that in matters which are of no relevance to the candidature, then the right to privacy of the candidates must be respected. To quote the Supreme Court Bench as is done in an NDTV report, “It is not necessary that a candidate declare every item of moveable property that he or his dependent family members owns such as clothing, shoes, crockery, stationery, furniture etc., unless the same is of such value as to constitute a sizeable asset in itself or reflect upon his candidature in terms of his lifestyle and require to be disclosed.”
What Was The Case?
This observation came after the Supreme Court upheld the election of Karikho Kri from Tezu who was an independent MLA in the 2019 Arunachal Pradesh Assembly Elections. The apex court’s decision overturned the Gauhati High Court’s decision which declared Karikho Kri’s election null and void when the opposition alleged that he made false declarations in his nomination paper; it was alleged that Kri did not disclose that he was occupying a government accommodation.
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