The Supreme Court and the Election Commission of India (ECI) have undertaken some commendable steps for reforming the electoral process. But these two constitutional bodies are also bound by the laws enacted by the elected legislative body. The ECI has achieved considerable success in containing the role of muscle power through measures such as the effective implementation of the model code of conduct and the setting up of the expense monitoring cell. Mandatory declaration of assets and existing criminal charges in self-sworn affidavits to the ECI prior to elections has brought in some transparency. Supreme Court judgments disqualifying convicted MPs and MLAs (Lily Thomas vs. Union of India, 2013), barring those in jail from contesting (Chief Election Commissioner vs. Jan Chowkidar, 2013), directing the EC to bring the issue of election related freebies under the ambit of the Code of Conduct, the Allahabad High Court banning caste and religion based political rallies are all attempts to change the system. However, implementation of these judgements has faced unequivocal opposition from all the political parties. When the Supreme Court in its recent intervention (Lily Thomas vs. Union of India, 2013) sought to prevent convicted MPs from continuing in office, the legislators promptly geared up to nullify the judgment through an ordinance.