Political Parties are fully united on one issue-
‘criminals are not untouchable in politics’. My fear has come true. When the
Supreme Court of India delivered historic judgement two months ago that people
who are convicted of crime by the trial court would lose their Membership of
the House – Parliament or/and State Legislatures even if an appeal lies in the
higher judiciary against the conviction and they will be debarred from
contesting elections. I had commented in my earlier blog on this issue saying
that the UPA Government might challenge the verdict and go for amending the
Representation of the People Act to nullify the SC verdict on criminals in
politics.
The Centre challenged the verdict by filing a review
petition in the Supreme Court against the judgment. The Government also now
plans to amend the relevant sections of the R P Act to nullify the verdict
apparently to protect criminals in politics.
But alert citizens of the country are equally
determined to fight the government against its design to protect criminals in
politics.
Supreme Court Bench Headed by Justice R M Lodha has
said that the purity of the election process needed to be preserved and ensure
that “criminals don not enter legislative bodies”. The judge observed that this
should be done through legislation. While hearing a Public Interest Litigation
Petition, Justice Lodha expressed displeasure over the government’s failure to
reply to the notice issued by the court. He has given six week time to the
government to reply.
The Supreme Court on Monday, August 19, 2013 observed
that persons charge sheeted in the heinous crimes or indicted by the commission
of inquiry should also be debarred from contesting elections. The court
indicated that it would specify ‘heinous crime’ like murder and rape and also
moral turpitude that would debar such persons from contesting polls.
Soon after the earlier verdict of the apex court that
debarred convicted persons from contesting elections besides disqualifying such
persons from being a Member of the House (Parliament or State Legislatures),
political parties raised their voice expressing concern over the judgement
Their argument is that the verdict of the Supreme Court is likely to be used
against politicians who may be implicated in ‘false’ cases by their rivals and
see to it that they don’t contest and those elected lose Membership of the
House.
Such apprehensions are baseless. It is difficult to
implicate politicians in false cases of murder and rape and more difficult to
establish the case leading to conviction. The fact of the matter is that
political parties cutting across party line including the Left Parties
patronize criminals many of them get elected to State Legislatures and
Parliament.
It is the number that matters not the person in
Parliament and Assemblies. Look what the Congress has done in Jharkhand. The
Party has supported the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha and got the government headed by
it installed in Ranchi in bargain for sparing 10 Lok Sabha seats out of a total
of 14 in Jharkhand for the Congress to contest in the next general elections in
pre-poll alliance with the JMM. The JMM on its part agreed to the formula and
accepted to contest in only 4 Lok Sabha seats since running the Jharkhand
Government is its priority not seats in Lok Sabha. The Congress feared that
going alone in the polls in Jharkhand may see a total rout of the Party and a
clear victory for the BJP. The Congress had won only 1 Lok Sabha seat out of 14
in the state and it was the Ranchi seat bagged by Subodh Kant Sahay. The Party
feared to lose even this seat, hence the compromise.
~R. K. Sinha
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