New Delhi: The cabinet Tuesday approved an ordinance to negate a Supreme Court (SC) order disqualifying MPs and MLAs if convicted in a criminal case, sources said.
According to the sources, the government opted for the ordinance route after a bill for the same could not be passed in the monsoon session of parliament.
The ordinance would save the elected leaders from disqualification but would take away their perks.
Aiming to change the law, the government had brought the Representation of the People (Second Amendment) Bill, 2013 in Rajya Sabha during the monsoon session, which could not be passed.
The ordinance, once approved by President Pranab Mukherjee, will have to be passed by parliament during the winter session likely November-December.
The government approved the ordinance in a hurry as the SC order was hanging like a Damocles' sword over Congress MP Rashid Masood after a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court convicted him in a corruption case. The CBI court is likely to pronounce the sentence next month, said sources.
In its July 10 order, the apex court said an MP or an MLA would stand disqualified immediately if convicted by a court for crimes with punishment of two years or more.
The order had united all the parties who saw it as dilution of parliament's supremacy and asked the government to do something about it.
The parties had also urged the government to nullify another apex court order which debarred politicians from contesting polls if under police custody.
Parliament passed a bill in the monsoon session to change the law to negate this order.
President Mukherjee approved the bill Tuesday making it a law.
Comments
| Quick linksNews
National
International
Regional
Politics
Education & Career
Business
Science & Technology
Health
Views & Analysis
The Funny Side
© 2012 Awaz Multimedia & Publications. All rights reserved.
V.K. Singh's claim on J&K ministers' payoffs triggers stormNational Conference provincial president Devender Rana asked V.K.Singh to name the ministers who have taken money. "If the name of any NC minister figures, he will be sacked by Chief Minister Omar Abdullah as the NC believes in morality and probity in public life." . .... More
Also Read: 'Discipline security establishment in handling Kashmir'
Modi skipped NIC meet fearing embarrassing questions: Lalu PrasadRashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) supremo Lalu Prasad Yadav on Monday took on Gujarat Chief Minister and Bharatiya Janata Party's PM candidate Narendra Modi for skipping the National Integration Council (NIC) ..... More
Apart from the cases of corruption, in the last three years, the Supreme Court of India and the High Court of Gujarat have entrusted four cases of fake encounters of Gujarat to the CBI. The cases are that of Sohrabuddin-Kauserbi, Tulsi Prajapati, Javed-Ishrat ... More
"If the temples release some of their gold, the country need not import this for another four-five months. It will be win-win situation for both the government and the temples. The government will save a lot of foreign exchange," he ...... More
