Convicted lawmakers cannot be debarred from contesting elections for life, the Centre told the Apex Court on Thursday in response to a plea that sought convicted legislators to be treated on par with convicted bureaucrats, who are debarred for life from Govt service.

Making a distinction between bureaucrats & members of Parliament or state legislatures who are convicted of serious offences under the Indian Penal Code or other special laws, an affidavit filed by the Ministry of Law & Justice said that while public servants were governed by”‘service conditions,” such conditions do not exist for lawmakers.

Instead, MPs & MLAs are governed by the Representation of the People Act (RP Act), which prescribes a 6-year disqualification from contesting polls for an offence that is punishable with a prison sentence of two years & above.

The affidavit came in response to an application moved in a pending PIL filed by lawyer & Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay.

In his main petition, Upadhyay had sought debarment of convicted lawmakers for life. However, in the application, he added a subsequent prayer, challenging the validity of Sections 8(1), 8(2), 8(3) & 9(1) of RP Act, 1951, which disqualifies a convicted legislator for a period of six years & five years (under Section 9(1)).

Upadhyay questioned the different standards of punishment for convicted lawmakers on one hand & convicted public servants on the other & demanded that the same rule of debarment must be applied to MLAs/MPs on contesting elections or for heading a political party.

“There are no specific service conditions laid down in respect of elected representatives albeit, the fact that the people’s representatives are public servants. The elected representatives are ordinarily bound by the oath that they have taken to serve the citizens of their constituency in particular & the country in general. Their conduct is bound by propriety, good conscience & they are expected to generally work in the interest of the nation,” the affidavit said.

The affidavit said that while the issue of debarment for life was pending in the main petition filed by Upadhyay, there was no need to entertain the amended application, which challenged the RPA provisions with regard to disqualification of MPs/MLAs. 

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