The Indian Supreme Court on Wednesday ruled that lawmakers should be thrown out of office if they are convicted of a serious crime, a judgement hailed as a major step towards cleaning up the political system.
The Supreme Court said state and federal lawmakers will be forced to quit politics and will be barred from contesting future elections if they are convicted of a crime that carries a sentence of at least two years in jail.
“If a person has no right to vote (if convicted of a crime), he has no right to contest,” Judges AK Patnaik and SJ Mukhopadhyay ruled.
Some 160 lawmakers from various parties in the national lower house of parliament are facing a range of criminal charges and more than 1,400 politicians from state legislatures, according to campaign group the Association for Democratic Reforms.
“This is a milestone for Indian politics. If you are convicted of a crime from now on, you don’t have the right to be in politics,” said the association’s national coordinator Anil Bairwal.
“It’s a significant step towards cleaning up politics,” Bairwal, who was in court to hear the decision, said.
The ruling comes as Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s government has been rocked by a series of graft scandals involving mobile phone licences, coalfields and the Commonwealth Games in New Delhi among other issues.
Millions of people took to the streets in cities across India last year to protest at the scandals amid seething anger at perceived endemic corruption in politics and the wider public sector.
The ruling could have a significant impact ahead of state and national elections which are due by May next year, Bairwal said.
The CIA keeps deleting my comment. I am reposting it. India's government is a proxy for the CIA. The requirement, put in place by Manmohan Singh, for mid-career Indian civil servants (sending Indian military officers for training to the United States has the same purpose) to go to United States universities for training so their future career prospects, promotions, etc. are controlled by Americans is meant to make India's government as a proxy for the CIA more perfect. There has been a long-standing requirement in American and British universities that to receive a Ph.D. degree from them, Indians — this included Manmohan Singh — have to agree to work for American or British intelligence agencies. India's legitimate ruler — Satish Chandra — has been systematically suppressed using 24-hour satellite surveillance for the past 36 years. IndiasLegitimateRulerSatishChandraDOTblogspotDOTcom
.
Where did this nut come from ???
.
Can you please kill yourself?
a sick mind
You should take part in a tournament for one of the finest blogs on the internet. I will recommend this site!
Let the sleeping dogs lie !
I think it was Oliver Cromwell who said these famous words – may be in a different context , at a different time , in a different country
But right now , in our beloved India , our very own ( not so beloved ? ) political leaders seem to be telling the Supreme Court , the same thing !
Yesterday , Supreme Court dismissed a Central Government appeal to review its earlier ruling , which held ;
“ An elected representative stands disqualified from the date of his conviction in a criminal offence . The mere fact that the convicted politician has appealed against his conviction does not imply that he would continue to hold office “
So , what will the Government do now ?
With solid , unanimous backing from ALL political parties , it will amend the Representation of People Act , to nullify the Court verdict !
Of Course , retrospectively from 15 Aug 1947 !
I am not surprised , given the following statistics compiled by Association for Democratic Reforms :—-
————————————————————————————-
Party ……………% age of MPs/MLAs with criminal charges
—————————————————————-
BJP………………………. 31
Congress…………….. 22
NCP……………………….30
Shiv Sena……………. 75
RJD…………………………46
JD(U)………………….. 44
SP………………………. 43
Rest …………………….. 32-36
————————————————————————————-
Not having voted for past 30 years , I have a satisfaction of not having chosen myself , which party will torment / torture / murder me for next 5 years !
But of course , I will vote when I am allowed to cast “ Negative Votes “ !
When will India’s youth rise in revolt ?
•hemen parekh
Attractive portion of content. I simply stumbled upon your website and in accession capital to assert that I
acquire in fact enjoyed account your blog posts. Any way I will be
subscribing on your feeds and even I achievement you get admission to consistently rapidly.
Comments are closed.