NEW DELHI : Just a month before the Assembly elections in five states, the Supreme Court on Thursday said a new Constitution Bench would be set up at the earliest to decide issues on whether people facing trial in serious crime cases can be allowed to contest and at which stage of trial, a lawmaker would stand to be disqualified.
At present, a person, convicted in a serious criminal case, is barred from contesting polls and a lawmaker stands disqualified in the event of conviction. “We must clarify this matter so that people know the law by next election,” a Bench headed by Chief Justice J S Khehar said while considering the submission that these issues needed to be decided at the earliest as many dreaded criminals, against whom charges have been framed by courts in serious cases, are planning to contest the upcoming Assembly polls. Senior advocate Vikas Singh, appearing for lawyer and Delhi BJP spokesperson Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay, mentioned the PIL on the issue for urgent hearing on grounds including that many people, facing trial in serious cases, may contest and win elections and hence the legal questions needed to be settled.
Upadhyay, in his application seeking setting up of a larger Bench, said, “At present, more than 33 per cent legislators have criminal cases and Election Commission data shows that criminalisation is increasing every subsequent year. This trend is not good for a healthy democracy.”
A three-judge Bench had on March 8 last year, referred various PILs, including the one filed by Upadhyay, to the CJI saying questions like can a lawmaker, facing criminal trial, be disqualified at conviction stage or while framing of charge in a case have to be decided by a larger Bench. During the brief mentioning, the Bench also said, “We cannot give an immediate answer to these questions since there is fear of lodging false cases in elections.”
Ex-chief election commissioner J M Lyngdoh and an NGO had filed PILs raising similar issues. The pleas were referred to the larger Bench.