New Delhi, Aug. 12 -- The Supreme Court today indicated that the constitutional right to form an association cannot be curtailed merely because a person has been disqualified from certain statutory rights, while hearing a petition seeking a blanket ban on convicted individuals from forming political parties or holding top posts in them.
A Bench comprising Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi was dealing with a PIL filed in 2017 by advocate Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay.
The petition challenges what it calls a "loophole" in Section 29A of the Representation of the People Act, 1951, which governs the registration of political parties.
The plea asks whether the Election Commission of India (ECI) can refuse recognition to parties headed...