Govt moves Cabinet note to amend RPA
Union council of ministers on Thursday gave its nod to a proposal under which convicted MPs and MLAs will retain their membership till pendency of appeal but will be barred from voting and drawing salary. The move comes days after Supreme Court ruling on immediate disqualification of convicted legislators.
The proposed amendments to the Representation of People Act will ensure that a legislator cannot be disqualified after conviction if his or her appeal is pending before a court and sentence is stayed.
The law and justice ministry has proposed that the amendment to the Representation of People Act shall come into effect from July 10, 2013, the day the Supreme Court gave the landmark judgment.
The law ministry’s proposal to amend the RPA makes it clear that an MP or MLA cannot be disqualified after conviction if his or her appeal is pending before a court and sentence is stayed.
A proviso added to sub-section (4) of Section 8 of the RP Act makes it clear that the convicted member shall continue to take part in proceedings of Parliament or Legislature of a state but he or she shall neither be entitled to vote nor draw salary and allowances till the appeal or revision is finally decided by the court.
In its July 10 verdict, the Supreme Court had struck down a provision in the electoral law that protects a convicted lawmaker from disqualification on the ground of pendency of appeal in higher courts.
The apex court made it clear that MPs, MLAs and MLCs would stand disqualified on the date of conviction. Several political parties had come out openly against the apex court judgment and had wanted it to be negated.
“Notwithstanding anything contained in sub-section (1), sub-section (2) or sub-section (3), a disqualification under any of the said sub-sections shall not, in the case of a person who on the date of the conviction is a member of Parliament or the legislature of a state, take effect, if an appeal or application for revision is filed in respect of the conviction and sentence within a period of 90 days from the date of conviction and such conviction or sentence is stayed by the court,” the draft bill says.
“fsProvided that till the appeal or revision is finally decided by the court, the member shall neither be entitled to vote nor draw salary and allowances, but shall continue to take part in the proceedings of Parliament or the legislature of a state, as the case may be,” it adds.
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