Why mum on convicted netas, SC pulls up EC

Satya Prakash

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, July 12

The Election Commission on Wednesday found itself at the receiving end of the Supreme Court’s wrath for failing to take a clear stand on a PIL demanding a life ban on convicted lawmakers from contesting polls.

“When a citizen comes to the EC seeking lifetime ban on convicted lawmakers, is silence an option for you? You must say either yes or no. How can you be silent? If you are constrained, please let us know,” a Bench headed by Justice Ranjan Gogoi asked the counsel for the commission which had earlier supported the petition.

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In its affidavit filed in April, the commission had said it espoused the cause of the petitioner to decriminalise politics. It had said it was “alive to the issues that concern the conduct of free and fair elections and functioning of healthy democracy and as such asserting for bringing in electoral reforms which further the cause of free and fair elections.”

But on Wednesday, the commission’s counsel said: “The commission is not taking an adversarial stand. We feel the issue (debarring convicted politicians) is in the legislative domain and we have no stand.”

An angry Bench said: “If you feel constrained by the legislature, let us know.” The Bench fixed July 19 for further hearing.

Under the current election law, a convicted politician immediately loses his/her seat in Parliament or state Assembly/legislative council and becomes ineligible to contest polls for six years from the date of completion of the sentence. But petitioner Ashwani Upadhyaya — a local BJP leader — has demanded that there should be a life ban on convicted politicians.

Mishra’s plea with HC

• The Supreme Court on Wednesday transferred to the Delhi HC a plea of Madhya Pradesh Cabinet Minister Narottam Mishra
• He was disqualified by the EC from contesting polls for three years over paid news charges
• The EC had on June 23 held him guilty of filing wrong accounts of poll expenses in 2008