- The Cabinet has cleared an ordinance aimed at nullifying a recent Supreme Court judgment that said lawmakers convicted of offences punishable with two years or more would automatically stand disqualified from the membership of the Parliament or state legislatures from the date of conviction by a trial court.
- The SC had on July 10 struck down Section 8(4) of the Representation of People’s Act which protected convicted lawmakers from immediate disqualification. The SC held this Section ultra vires of the Constitution.
- Reversing the apex court order, the Cabinet -- chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh -- approved the ordinance which says convicted MPs and MLAs can stay in office and contest elections if they have appealed against the conviction and the said appeal has been admitted for hearing by a higher court within 90 days of conviction by the trial court.
WHAT IT MEANS:
- Conviction of a lawmaker won’t automatically lead to his disqualification from the legislature till the ti
- me the appeal is pending and the conviction finally adjudicated upon. If the sentence of conviction is stayed by a higher court, the ordinance would equally apply.
- The only power, it says, convicted lawmakers would not enjoy is the right to draw salary and allowances and the right to vote in House proceedings.
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