The Supreme Court on Friday declined to consider a plea seeking guidelines to bar people facing serious criminal charges from being appointed ministers or given Cabinet portfolios.
A bench of Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana, while dismissing the plea, said constitutional morality was not binding.
The plea sought guidelines for the prime minister and chief ministers to take into account the criminal backgrounds of legislators, while appointing them as ministers and assigning Cabinet portfolios, saying there is no such regulatory framework.
The petitioner clarified that the plea did not seek to introduce any additional disqualification under Articles 75 and 164 of the Constitution, which deal with the appointment of Union and state ministers respectively.
Instead, it sought to ensure that the discretion exercised in selecting ministers and assigning portfolios was guided by certain standards of prudence.
Justice Bagchi observed, "What you are arguing is constitutional morality. It is not binding."
He further questioned the feasibility of such a framework.
Justice Bagchi further said, "Do you know, criminal law is continuously weaponised against people who are in the democratic process, sometimes by their political opponents. In such a situation, would it not be left to the discretion of the chief minister to decide whether a particular criminal case is sufficiently embarrassing for the government to exclude that person from the cabinet?"
The petitioner, however, maintained that the plea was not intended to question the constitutional powers of the executive but only to ensure that there is a certain degree of prudence.
"All that I am saying is that the exercise of discretion has to be reasonable. There have to be certain parameters governing that discretion," the counsel submitted.
Justice Bagchi said that the court would be entering difficult territory if it attempted to frame such guidelines.
"We are conscious of the fact that criminal prosecutions may follow a change of regime. We would be wading into that area," he said.
The petitioner also referred to an analysis by an NGO that a large number of legislators face serious criminal charges.
The bench dismissed the plea and told the counsel in lighter vein to exercise the NOTA option on the voting machine next time.
