Fast-track cases against legislators, SC tells Centre

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Wednesday gave the Centre six weeks to come up with a roadmap for setting up of special courts for speedy trial of lawmakers facing criminal charges even as the government opposed a life ban on guilty politicians.

The court also asked for the status of the 1,581 criminal cases mentioned in the poll affidavits by the candidates of the 2014 Lok Sabha election.

“In the interest of the nation, trials in such cases must end within a year,” a bench led by justice Ranjan Gogoi said, asking the Centre to specify the money it would set aside for such courts. The Election Commission of India changed its stand on Wednesday to say the guilty should not be allowed to contest elections. “Such a step will go a long way in cleaning politics,” it said.

The top court was hearing petitions seeking to declare the provisions of the Representation of People (RP) Act, which bars politicians convicted in criminal cases from contesting elections for six years after

›In the interest of the nation, trials in such cases (against legislators) must end within a year SUPREME COURT BENCH

serving jail term, as ultra vires to the Constitution.

Advocate Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay has filed a PIL in the matter, while several others have come to the apex court as intervenors.

The court has given several orders to decriminalise politics, including the one in 2013 that immediately disqualifies an MP or an MLA found guilty of a criminal offence punishable with two years or more in a jail. The lawmaker also stands barred from elections for at least six years.

In 2015, the court said trial in criminal cases against lawmakers should be completed in a year.

On Wednesday, it also asked the Centre to share details of fresh cases registered against politicians between 2014 and 2017 in the next hearing on December 13.

The court also came down hard on the Centre, which on the one hand favoured setting up of special courts but simultaneously argued that it would be for the state government to set them in motion.

“You are now saying this. Later you will say it’s the state’s responsibility. We will not let you wash away your hands,” the bench said.

The Centre said that it was actively considering the proposal for lifetime ban on convicted politicians in criminal cases.

The apex court had on July 12 pulled up the ECI for not taking a clear stand on a plea seeking barring of convicted politicians for life.