A person against whom charges have been framed in a criminal case should be barred from contesting polls, the Election Commission told the Supreme Court which directed the Centre to file its response on the issue.
The Commission said framing of a charge is done after judicial scrutiny of the evidence and the accused person should not be allowed to contest election as he ceases to have requisite excellence and integrity for public office.
Appearing before a bench headed by Justice R M Lodha, advocate Meenaxhi Arora, appearing for the Commission, said the doctrine that a person is presumed innocent until proven guilty should not be applied to right of a person to contest election