Law on disqualification by next polls: Khehar

Ahead of the crucial Assembly polls in five states, the Supreme Court on Thursday indicated that it will soon constitute a five-judge Bench to determine whether a person facing a criminal case in a heinous crime can be disqualified from contesting Assembly or Parliamentary elections at the stage of filing chargesheet or framing of charges or only after conviction.

“We must clarify this matter so that people know the law by next election,” a Bench headed by Chief Justice J.S. Khehar said while considering the submission. “We cannot give an immediate answer to these questions since there is fear of lodging false cases in elections.”

The issue was raised in a PIL by Public Interest Foundation in 2011 seeking a direction to debar chargesheeted persons from contested elections. In its report, the Law Commission said, “Disqualification upon conviction has proved to be incapable of curbing the growing criminalisation politics, owing to long delays in trials and rare convictions. The law needs to evolve to pose an effective deterrence, and to prevent subversion of the process of justice.”

The Commission said the filing of the chargesheet is not an appropriate stage to introduce electoral disqualifications owing to the lack of sufficient application of judicial mind at this stage.