New Delhi, Sept 24: A five-judge Supreme Court bench, headed by Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra, will pronounce its verdict tomorrow on whether politicians facing criminal charges should be allowed to contest elections for local corporations, state legislative assemblies and parliament.

The litigation was moved by NGO Public Interest Foundation, which demanded the apex court's intervention after pointing out that 34 per cent of the elected lawmakers in the incumbent Lok Sabha are facing trial in criminal cases. 58 MPs, MLAs Have Declared Hate Speech Cases, Maximum From BJP: ADR Report.

During the course of hearing, the top court had called criminalisation of politics a "rot" which could damage the Indian democracy. Senior advocate Krishnan Venugopal, who is supporting the petition, has demanded the bench to either order the passage of a law or direct the Election Commission to ensure tainted candidates do not contest on tickets of registered political parties.

His father, Attorney General KK Venugopal, who is appearing on behalf of the Centre, has opposed the petition stating that an accused cannot be treated at par with a convict. If the right to contest will be snatched from him, it would be akin to barring him for exercising his right to vote, Venugopal told the bench.

The Attorney General further told the bench that it is beyond the domain of courts to add new disqualifications, which are not found in the statute.

The Supreme Court has so far given a mixed reaction to the plea, with Justice DY Chandrachud saying it could order the Election Commission to ensure candidates with criminal cases are not allotted tickets of political parties. However, Justice Indu Malhotra said numerous cases are filed against lawmakers in the run-up to the elections -- which could be politically motivated.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Sep 24, 2018 10:34 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).