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20. The purpose of referring to the aforesaid authorities in extenso is to focus how this Court has given emphasis on the rights of a voter to know about the antecedents of a candidate, especially, the criminal antecedents, contesting the election. With the efflux of time, the Court in subsequent decisions has further elaborated the right to know in the context of election, as holding a free and fair election stabilises the democratic process which leads to good governance. In this regard, reference to a recent three-Judge Bench decision in Resurgence India V. Election Commission of India & Anr.[9] is advantageously fruitful. A writ petition was filed under Article 32 of the Constitution of India to issue specific directions to effectuate the meaningful implementation of the judgments rendered by this Court in Association for Democratic Reforms (supra), People's Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) (supra) and also to direct the respondents therein to make it compulsory for the Returning Officers to ensure that the affidavits filed by the contestants are complete in all respects and to reject the affidavits having blank particulars. The Court referred to the background, relief sought and Section 33A, 36 and 125A of the 1951 Act. A reference was also made to the authority in Shaligram Shrivastava V. Naresh Singh Patel[10]. Culling out the principle from the earlier precedents, the three-Judge Bench opined:

"Thus, this Court held that a voter has the elementary right to know full particulars of a candidate who is to represent him in the Parliament and such right to get information is universally recognized natural right flowing from the concept of democracy and is an integral part of Article 19(1)(a) of the Constitution. It was further held that the voter's speech or expression in case of election would include casting of votes, that is to say, voter speaks out or expresses by casting vote. For this purpose, information about the candidate to be selected is a must. Thus, in unequivocal terms, it is recognized that the citizen's right to know of the candidate who represents him in the Parliament will constitute an integral part of Article 19(1)(a) of the Constitution of India and any act, which is derogative of the fundamental rights is at the very outset ultra vires".

23. The Court summarized its directions in the following manner:

"(i) The voter has the elementary right to know full particulars of a candidate who is to represent him in the Parliament/Assemblies and such right to get information is universally recognized. Thus, it is held that right to know about the candidate is a natural right flowing from the concept of democracy and is an integral part of Article 19(1)(a) of the Constitution.
(ii) The ultimate purpose of filing of affidavit along with the nomination paper is to effectuate the fundamental right of the citizens under Article 19(1)(a) of the Constitution of India. The citizens are supposed to have the necessary information at the time of filing of nomination paper and for that purpose, the Returning Officer can very well compel a candidate to furnish the relevant information.

26. Ultimately, the Court declared Rules 41(2) and (3) and Rule 49-O of the Rules as ultra vires the Section 128 of the 1951 Act and Article 19(1)(a) of the Constitution to the extent they violate the secrecy of voting and accordingly directed the Election Commission to provide necessary provision in the ballot papers/EVMs and another button called "None of the Above" (NOTA).

27. The aforesaid decisions pronounce beyond any trace of doubt that a voter has a fundamental right to know about the candidates contesting the elections as that is essential and a necessary concomitant for a free and fair election. In a way, it is the first step. The voter is entitled to make a choice after coming to know the antecedents of a candidate a requisite for making informed choice. It has been held by Shah, J. in People's Union of Civil Liberties (supra) that the voter's fundamental right to know the antecedents of a candidate is independent of statutory requirement under the election law, for a voter is first a citizen of this country and apart from statutory rights, he has the fundamental right to know and be informed. Such a right to know is conferred by the Constitution.