'Unsettled' by the number of politicians facing serious criminal charges, the Supreme Court on Tuesday asked Parliament to urgently consider bringing a law to bar such persons from entering public life. Currently, upon conviction by a trial court in a serious criminal case punishable beyond two years of jail term, the convicted MP/MLA stands disqualified even if (s)he files an appeal. Unless the convicted legislator obtains a stay on conviction by a higher court, he/she cannot retain the public office.
A five-judge Constitution bench expressed its helplessness of being bound by the 'Lakshman Rekha' drawn by the Constitution that prevents the judiciary to frame laws. Putting the onus on the Centre, the bench headed by Chief Justice of India (CJI) Dipak Misra observed, "Though criminalisation in politics is a bitter manifest truth, which is a termite to the citadel of democracy, be that as it may, the Court cannot make the law." The Court stated that henceforth, candidates should disclose pending criminal cases against them to their respective political parties and mention it in bold letters during filing of nomination. The SC directed the political parties to disclose this information on its website too. It also directed them to give wide publicity by airing it at least three times on print and electronic media after filing of nomination.
BJP national spokesperson, Shahnawaz Hussain said that the BJP welcome's the SC's decision. "We feel that when the trial is ongoing, a legislator should not be stopped from doing his duties," Hussain said. Senior Congress leader Kapil Sibal said that the BJP government should bring in legislation to ensure that criminals are out of politics. "We will support it," Sibal said.
Compared to what the SC did in 2013 to order automatic disqualification of convicted MPs/MLAs, high hopes were pegged on the present petition filed by NGO Public Interest Foundation in 2011, where demand was made to disqualify those MPs/MLAs when charges are framed against them in a serious criminal case.
This demand got a boost when the Law Commission in March 2014, acting on a reference from the SC, backed this suggestion. This encouraged two other PILs to be filed in SC by former Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) JM Lyngdoh and lawyer Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay. They posed to the SC that if members of Public Service Commission, Chief Vigilance Commissioner and the Chief Secretary can go on "framing of charge" can there be a different test for MPs/MLAs.
A five-judge Constitution bench of CJI, Justices RF Nariman, AM Khanwilkar, DY Chandrachud, Indu Malhotra examined the Law Commission's suggestion and even considered suggestions to empower the Election Commission to deregister candidates with criminal cases or freeze political party symbol allotted to such candidates.
It unanimously held, "In a multi-party democracy, where members are elected on party lines and are subject to party discipline, we recommend to the Parliament to bring out a strong law whereby it is mandatory for the political parties to revoke membership of persons against whom charges are framed in heinous and grievous offences and not to set up such persons in elections, both for the Parliament and the State Assemblies."
The Association of Democratic Rights (ADR), which has championed the cause of eliminating criminals from politics was disappointed. ADR national coordinator Ajay Verma said, "We expected an order from the SC that could deter political parties from fielding candidates facing serious criminal charges. We do not expect such a law to come from the Parliament but Courts."
Verma's concern was evident as the EC, which supported the petitioners' cause, stated that the trend of criminalisation is on the rise. In the current Lok Sabha, 30 per cent or 162 sitting MPs have criminal cases pending against them. The prevalence of MPs with criminal cases pending has increased over the years. In 2004, it was 24 per cent and by 2009 it jumped to 30 per cent. Across states too, 1,258 out of 4,032 sitting MLAs had pending criminal cases, with about half being serious cases.
The Centre argued that unless a man is convicted, there is a presumption of innocence against him. The bench said, "It is one thing to take cover under the presumption of innocence of the accused but it is equally imperative that persons who enter public life and participate in law making should be above any kind of serious criminal allegation...The nation eagerly waits for such legislation, for the society has a legitimate expectation to be governed by proper constitutional governance."
Prominent MPs With Criminal Cases
Yogi Adityanath (BJP) constituency: Gorakhpur (Uttar Pradesh)
11 cases under 11, with 7 serious IPC cases where punishment is imprisonment of more than 2 years
Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury (Congress) constituency: Baharampur (West Bengal)
16 cases, with 11 serious IPC cases
Anurag Singh Thakur (BJP) constituency: Hamirpur (Himachal Pradesh)
10 cases, with 4 serious IPC cases
Kirti Azad (BJP) constituency: Darbhanga (Bihar)
4 cases with 2 serious IPC cases
Adhalrao Shivaji Dattatray (Shiv Sena) constituency: Shirur (Maharashtra)
10 cases, with 7 serious IPC cases
Badruddin Ajmal (AIUDF) constituency: Dhubri (Assam)
2 cases, with 2 serious IPC cases
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