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The Supreme Court on Wednesday ruled that lawmakers will have to quit if convicted of a criminal offence and cannot remain in office on the plea that their appeals against the verdict are pending before a higher court.
Striking down Section 8(4) of the Representation of the People Act (RPA) as unconstitutional, a bench of judges A K Patnaik and S J Mukhopadhaya said the ruling would not affect those who had moved appeals earlier. It will only apply henceforth.
The government reacted with caution. Law Minister Kapil Sibal said they’d go through the detailed judgment and hold consultations before deciding on the next step. “We will first read the verdict and see its impact on politics. We shall consult everybody and give our reaction,” he said.
The ruling Congress party’s communications head, Ajay Maken, said: “It will bring in greater transparency into the system but we are yet to study it.” He added it was the Congress that had raised its voice against such a case recently, in Gujarat. Babubhai Bokhiria, a minister, was given a three-year jail term in a corruption case but continued to remain in office. A party delegation had met President Pranab Mukherjee a fortnight earlier to demand his removal.
The Bharatiya Janata Party’s deputy leader in the Rajya Sabha, Ravi Shankar Prasad, said: “We always welcome any step aimed at purifying and strengthening the political system.”
The verdict came on public interest suits filed by one Lily Thomas and a non-government body, Lok Prahari, for striking down various provisions of the RPA on the grounds that these violate certain constitutional provisions, such as a bar on criminals getting registered as voters or becoming MPs or MLAs.
The suits said the section now struck down was “discriminatory and encourages criminalisation of politics”.
Former poll guardians hail ruling
M S Gill, who was chief election commissioner for five years years and conducted three general elections, said: “I welcome the judgment of the Supreme Court because it will certainly help make Indian democracy better.” He said he had pushed for many reforms to cleanse the system, including this one.
Another former CEC, N Gopalaswami, said: “It is a welcome judgment. It will define the way tickets are distributed the next time.”
Added another ex-CEC, S Y Quraishi: “This judgment will have serious and far-reaching implications for cleansing India’s political system.” He said the SC was the “greatest protector of India’s democratic process” and criminalisation of politics was a serious national issue. An earlier SC order, he said, brought in transparency by making filing of affidavits of details of criminal and financial backgrounds compulsory for all candidates.
Naveen Chawla, another former CEC, said: “This is definitely a step in the right direction.”.
