Instructions issued to Lok Sabha, Rajya Sabha and state secretariats
The first disqualification from Parliament had come on October 21, 2013, after 66-year-old Rasheed Masood, a Congress member of the Rajya Sabha, was held guilty in a case of corruption.
New Delhi: Observing that delays in some cases allowed elected representatives to illegally continue as MP or MLA, the Election Commission asked Parliament and the state legislatures to promptly notify the disqualification of convicted lawmakers “without any discrimination”.
EC instructions issued to the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha secretariats and the secretariats of state legislatures noted that “in some cases, there has been delay in the issuance of such notification by the secretariat of the House”.
The process shouldn’t take more than seven days, it added.
The EC said the delay in disqualifying convicted lawmakers leads to situations where “the member who had incurred disqualification continues to be a member of the House in violation of provisions of Article 103 (of the Constitution) and the law laid down by the Supreme Court”. In its July 10, 2013 order, the Supreme Court had struck down sub-section 4 of Section 8 of the Representation of the People Act, under which incumbent MPs, MLAs and MLCs can avoid disqualification till the pendency of their appeal against conviction in a higher court.
Rasheed Masood was first to get disqualified
With the immediate disqualification of convicted lawmakers becoming the law of the land with SC ruling in such cases, the poll panel said the chief secretary of a state should ensure that the secretariats of Lok Sabha, Rajya Sabha, state Assembly and state Council should be immediately informed of the conviction of a member by any court.
The first disqualification from Parliament had come on October 21, 2013, after 66-year-old Rashid Masood, a Congress member of the Rajya Sabha, was held guilty in a case of corruption.
RJD chief Lalu Yadav and JD(U) leader Jagdish Sharma were disqualified as Lok Sabha members on October 22, 2013, following their conviction in the fodder scam.
Theirs were the first disqualification from the Lok Sabha after the SC struck down the provision that protected a convicted lawmaker from disqualification.
( Source : Deccan Chronicle with gency inputs )
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