The Supreme Court on September 10, 2020 sought centre's stand on a plea seeking a lifetime ban on convicted criminals contesting any elections. The apex court bench was headed by Justice NV Ramana, who is the next Chief Justice of India designate when SA Bobde demits office.
The plea filed by BJP leader Ashwini Upadhyay seeks a lifetime ban on convicted and chargesheeted MPs/ MLAs from contesting elections. He also sought a similar ban on the entry of convicted criminals either in the judiciary or the executive. The centre has been asked by the top court to respond to the plea within six weeks.
The petition comes at a time when the Supreme Court is already dealing with a plea on expediting trials in all serious cases involving elected leaders of both Houses.
SC to fast-track trials of sitting MPs/MLAs
The Supreme Court had earlier passed several orders to fast-track trials involving sitting MPs and MLAs facing charges so that they can get a quick decision from the courts and contest elections after getting their name cleared or face early conviction.
However, the order does not cover candidates who want to contest elections for the first time. The fresh petition has urged the court to pass orders that would prevent any convicted criminal from contesting elections.
36-year old criminal case pending in Punjab
While looking through its previous orders to fast-track court case involving elected leaders of the Parliament and State Assembly, the Supreme Court was shocked to discover a 36-year old pending criminal case in Punjab. The bench was going through the status report submitted in the case by amicus curiae Vijay Hansaria. The bench has ordered the state to give an explanation on the issue.
Hansaria cited the report to argue that the court had sought information from all high courts regarding corruption cases pending against all elected representatives. However, only four high courts responded to this.
The apex court bench has now sought details of all cases pending in courts regarding Members of the Parliaments and Members of the State Legislature. The bench has also sought information from the states. The bench will now decide on what to do next to hasten these trials.
Background
The PIL, filed by Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay, seeks to set up special courts for fast-tracking of criminal cases related to legislators and to bar them from contesting elections for life if found guilty. The centre had earlier opposed the lifetime ban on convicted MPs and MLAs.
Under the current law, an elected representative is barred from contesting elections for six years once he is convicted for heinous or moral offences. However, various pleas have been submitted to the Supreme Court arguing that the ban should be lifetime at par with the judiciary and executive where a person cannot hold office for life after conviction in any criminal case.
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