Govt begins talks on amendment to block SC order on convicted MPs

Sources said hectic parleys are under way on the question of disqualification of sitting MPs and MLAs upon conviction by a court,given the variations in the interpretation of what the SC has said. While the governments view is that the SC may not have been correct in its interpretation to strike down sub section 4 of Section 8 of the Representation of the People Act as unconstitutional,political parties want to be cautious given the possibility of a negative public reaction to such a decision.

It is learnt that the BJP is unwilling to take a view without reading the fine print of the amendment. The CPM is still studying the implications of the order and weighing the possibility of suggesting to the government to explore a judicial review. However,the legal view within the government is that the best way forward would be to move a constitutional amendment.

With the first week of the monsoon session having drawn to a close,consultations are expected to pick up pace,as the law ministry is learnt to have done its paperwork to move fast once there is a green signal. However,the government wants to be certain of the political support for such an amendment before bringing it to the cabinet.

The SC order essentially states that Parliament did not act within the constitutional remit while introducing sub section 4 in Section 8 of the RPA,which gives three months to a

sitting MP or MLA to file an appeal in case of a conviction in any of the offences listed in the Act as attracting the disqualification provision.

The Court was of the view that relevant sections of Article 102 and Article 191 of the Constitution,which is the provision that empowers Parliament to legislate on the question of disqualification,does not make a distinction between candidates eligible to contest and sitting MPs and MLAs.

Given that any person convicted in any of the listed offences is automatically debarred from contesting an election,the apex courts rationale was that the same should apply to sitting MPs and MLAs. The government,on the other hand,feels that this issue has been considered by a larger constitution bench earlier,and not found ultra vires.

Also,the argument offered then was that disqualifying sitting MPs or MLAs would leave a constituency unrepresented. Besides,in cases where governments had slim majorities,it might impact political stability and governance.

However,the court agreed with the petitioner that the question of whether it was within the powers of Parliament to bring in a separate provision for sitting MPs and MLAs was not dealt with by the constitution bench.