Disqualification of convicted representatives in India

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On 10 July 2013, the Supreme Court of India, in its judgement of the Lily Thomas v. Union of India case (along with Lok Prahari v. Union of India),[1] ruled that any Member of Parliament (MP), Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) or Member of a Legislative Council (MLC) who is convicted of a crime and awarded a minimum of two year imprisonment, loses membership of the House with immediate effect. This is in contrast to the earlier position, wherein convicted members held on to their seats until they exhausted all judicial remedy in lower, state and supreme court of India. Further, Section 8(4) of the Representation of the People Act, which allowed elected representatives three months to appeal their conviction,[2] was declared unconstitutional by the bench of Justice A. K. Patnaik and Justice S. J. Mukhopadhaya.[3]

In an attempt to overturn this decision, the Representation of the People (Second Amendment and Validation) Bill, 2013, was introduced into the Rajya Sabha on 30 August by Law Minister Kapil Sibal; by the proposed amendment, representatives would not be disqualified immediately after conviction.[4] The Indian government also filed a review petition, which the Supreme Court dismissed.[5] On 24 September, a few days before the fodder scam verdict, the government tried to bring the bill into effect as an ordinance.[6] However, Rahul Gandhi, Vice-President of the Indian National Congress, made his opinion of the ordinance clear in a press meeting: "It's complete nonsense. It should be torn up and thrown away."[7] Members of opposition parties claimed that Gandhi's comments indicated total confusion within the government, and called for the resignation of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.[8][9] Within 5 days, both the ordinance and the bill were withdrawn on 2 October.[10]

On 1 October 2013, Rasheed Masood became the first MP to lose his membership of parliament under the new guidelines, when he was sentenced to four years imprisonment for cheating, forgery and corruption.[11]

List of elected representatives disqualified after conviction by a court of law

Representative Party Representation Case Date of conviction Status
Rasheed Masood Congress Rajya Sabha MP from Uttar Pradesh convicted for 4 years in MBBS seats scam September 2013 Disqualified[12]
Lalu Prasad Yadav RJD Lok Sabha MP from Saran, Bihar convicted for 5 years in Fodder scam September 2013 Disqualified[13]
Jagdish Sharma RJD Lok Sabha MP from Jahanabad, Bihar convicted for 4 years in Fodder scam September 2013 Disqualified[13]
Babanrao Gholap Shiv Sena MLA from Deolali, Maharashtra convicted for 3 years in disproportionate assets case March 2014 Disqualified[14]
T. M. Selvaganapathy DMK Rajya Sabha MP from Tamil Nadu convicted for 2 years in cremation shed case April 2014 Resigned[15]
Suresh Halvankar BJP MLA from Ichalkaranji, Maharashtra convicted for 3 years in power theft case May 2014 Disqualified[16]
J. Jayalalithaa AIADMK Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu state
MLA from Srirangam, Tamil Nadu		 convicted for 4 years in disproportionate assets case September 2014 Disqualified.[17] But acquitted by Karnataka High Court. Appeal Pending in Supreme Court of India.
Asha Rani BJP MLA from Bijawar, Madhya Pradesh convicted for abetting suicide of maid November 2013 Disqualified[18]
Kamal Kishore Bhagat All Jharkhand Students Union MLA from Lohardaga (Vidhan Sabha constituency), Jharkhand convicted for attempt to murder case June 2015 Disqualified[19]

References

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