The Supreme Court on Tuesday agreed to hear a plea seeking de-registration of political parties that do not publish criminal cases of their candidates along with the reason for their selection on their websites, PTI reported.

Advocate Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay urged a bench comprising Chief Justice of India NV Ramana and Justices AS Bopanna and Hima Kohli to list the plea urgently.

“Nomination for the first phase of [Assembly] elections has started and the political parties and candidates are brazenly violating the two apex court judgements,” the lawyer said, as he sought directions to the Election Commission on this.

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The chief justice sought to know if those who have cases against them can be stopped from filing nominations, NDTV reported. “We will consider it [the plea],” he added. “I will give a date.”

The petition has also sought a direction to the poll panel to ensure that political leaders publish the details of cases against them in electronic, print and social media.

Upadhyay filed the plea after the Samajwadi Party fielded alleged gangster Nahid Hasan from Kairana Assembly in Uttar Pradesh without disclosing details of cases against him.

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“Nahid Hasan is in custody under the Gangster Act imposed on him around 11 months ago and he is the first candidate to file nomination in the first phase of Uttar Pradesh Assembly Elections,” the plea alleged.

It added: “He has multiple criminal cases and is the mastermind behind the Hindu exodus from Kairana. There are many criminal cases including fraud and extortion and was declared a fugitive by Special MLA-MP Court.”

In August, the Supreme Court had ruled that all political parties must publish criminal records of their election candidates within 48 hours of selection.

It had also fined eight political parties, including the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party, for not making criminal records public.