SC notice to govt on criminals in poll fray

SC notice to govt on criminals in poll fray Gives Govt One Last Chance To Respond To EC Plea For Banning Those Facing Trial For Heinous Crimes Dhananjay Mahapatra TNN  New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday gave a last opportunity to the Centre to break its long silence over Election Commission’s suggestion to ban those facing trial for heinous offences from contesting elections.     Almost eight months after it directed the Centre and the EC to “positively” file its response to a PIL seeking a series of directions to ensure that those with criminal track records do not enter the political arena, a bench of Justices R M Lodha and Madan B Lokur was perturbed by the Centre’s stony silence on such a crucial issue.     Pursuant to the January 2order, the EC had filed its affidavit agreeing with petitioner NGO ‘Public Interest Foundation’, which requested the court to frame guidelines for decriminalization of politics, but the Centre was found begging for one more opportunity to file its response.     When additional solicitor general Paras Kuhad asserted that the Centre has taken a series of measures to decriminalize politics, the bench asked him to file the response in six weeks, with a clear warning that no more opportunity would be given to the government.     The bench also directed the Centre to detail in its affidavit steps taken to implement the court’s 1997 judgment in Dinesh Trivedi case, where it had dealt with the Vohra Commission report on pervasive nexus between politicians, bureaucrats and police with crime syndicates and ordered setting up of an institutional mechanism like Lokpal to investigate the high and mighty uninfluenced by their clout.      The court in its judgment had said, “In view of the seriousness of the charges involved and the clout wielded by those who are likely to become the focus of investigation, it is necessary that the body which is entrusted with the task of following the investigation through to the stage of prosecution, be such that it is capable of enjoying the complete trust and confidence of the people