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New Delhi: On April 16,  Justices J.B. Pardiwala and K.V. Viswanathan disposed of a contempt petition filed by the NGO Lok Prahari. The bench held that there was no wilful disobedience of the February 16, 2018 directions in Lok Prahari v. Union of India.

The 2018 judgment was delivered by a bench of Justices Jasti Chelameswar and S. Abdul Nazeer. It granted several reliefs sought by the petitioner society, whose membership comes largely from retired civil servants.

Most consequentially, it declared non-disclosure of candidates’ assets and income-sources to be “undue influence” under Section 123(2) of the Representation of the People Act, 1951. The declaration extends to the assets of the candidate’s spouse and dependants. It made such non-disclosure a corrupt practice.

The judgment also directed amendment of Form 26 under the Conduct of Election Rules, 1961. Critically, it mandated a permanent mechanism to monitor undue asset-accretion by sitting legislators and their associates.

Eight years later, the permanent mechanism does not exist.

What the Union government told the court

Additional solicitor general K.M. Nataraj appeared for Rajiv Mani, secretary in the Legislative Department of the Union Law Ministry. He placed on record a reply tracing his Department’s February 2026 correspondence with the Lok Sabha Secretariat.

The Secretariat’s February 11, 2026 response reiterated its long-held objections to any........

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