The ADR analysed disclosures from 51 political parties across five state/UT Assembly elections and concluded that political parties failed to make public the required details for 191 of 1,405 candidates with declared criminal cases.

The candidates had declared criminal cases in their election affidavits. Parties published the required Format C-7 disclosures for 1,214 candidates, but 191 candidates (14 percent) did not have the required C-7 disclosure, which is intended to explain why a party selected a candidate with criminal cases and why it could not select a candidate without criminal antecedents.

The Supreme Court directed political parties in 2020 to publish reasons for selecting candidates with criminal backgrounds within 72 hours of their selection.

The ADR found that parties often gave similar or repetitive reasons, instead of explanations specific to individual candidates. The vague and repetitive responses imply that political parties are not serious about reforms, irrespective of the party, as they continue to give election tickets to candidates with criminal cases. If the institutions are serious about electoral reforms, they have to start with the basics of pruning out criminals.