Supreme Court seeks ECI reply to PIL seeking registration and regulation of political parties

The Supreme Court on Friday issued notice on a plea seeking directions to the Election Commission of India (ECI) to frame rules for the registration and regulation of political parties, aimed at ensuring secularism, transparency and political justice..A Bench of Justices Surya Kant and Joymalya Bagchi issued notice to the ECI and directed petitioner-in-person Ashwani Kumar Upadhyay to implead all national political parties recognised by the ECI."...we will issue [notice], but one problem may arise. We have not impleaded political parties. They will say that you are asking to regulate them and they aren't here. Issue notice," the Court observed..As per the plea, the cause of action arose from recent Income Tax raids (July–August 2025) exposing bogus political parties such as Indian Social Party, Yuva Bharat Atma Nirbhar Dal and National Sarva Samaj Party, which were found converting black money into white through hawala transactions, involving hundreds of crores. These parties, along with several others, never contest elections but operate as conduits for laundering unaccounted money, collecting donations in cash and returning them via cheque after deducting commission, the plea stated..Such fraudulent political outfits pose a grave threat to democracy by appointing criminals and anti-social elements as office-bearers, misusing black money for personal enrichment, and obtaining undue police/security protection, the plea asserted.It further added that despite their constitutional status under the Tenth Schedule and statutory recognition under Section 29A of the Representation of People Act, there exists no comprehensive law to regulate the internal functioning, transparency or accountability of political parties..The petitioner highlighted that political parties enjoy multiple State-conferred benefits including tax exemptions under Section 13A of the Income Tax Act and free airtime on Doordarshan/All India Radio, yet remain unregulated. .In light of the above, the plea seeks the following relief:- direct the Election Commission to frame rules for registration and regulation of political parties;- direct the Union of India to introduce comprehensive legislation addressing transparency, inner-party democracy and accountability;- take effective steps to curb the misuse of political parties as vehicles for corruption, black money conversion and criminalisation of politics..[Read Live Coverage]