HC dismisses plea to stop Lok Sabha poll losers from getting into Rajya Sabha
NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court has refused to entertain a plea seeking to restrain those defeated in Lok Sabha elections from contesting the Rajya Sabha polls.
The petitioner submitted that his repeated requests made to the Ministry of Law and Justice and the Election Commission under the Right to Information (RTI) Act seeking to know what actions have been taken in this regard did not elicit any response.
He also sought the courts direction to restrain candidates defeated in the Lok Sabha elections from contesting the Rajya Sabha polls. A bench of Acting Chief Justice Gita Mittal and Justice C Hari Shankar said that the petitioner had an alternative, equally effective remedy available to him, which he had not availed and therefore, the petition could not be entertained.
“This writ petition is dismissed with liberty to the petitioner to invoke an appropriate remedy of appeal available to him under the Right to Information (RTI) Act,” it added. The bench further said that in case, the petitioner was aggrieved by the decision taken by the appellate tribunal under the RTI, it would be open for him to assail it by way of appropriate legal proceedings before this court. The petitioner, Satya Narayan Prasad, who claimed to be a social activist, had moved the court saying that India being a democratic country and the people being supreme in electing its leaders, “it is a misfortune that politicians who are defeated in the general elections are nominated to the Upper House”.
Seeking a direction to the Ministry of Law and Justice and the Election Commission of India (ECI), the petitioner had said, “Any candidate who contested Lok Sabha election and has been defeated, he be declared disqualified for being a Member of Parliament (MP).” “Such candidates cannot be nominated or allowed to contest in Rajya Sabha election,” the plea had said, adding that this was “against the fundamental principle of democracy, wherein mandate/votes on Indian citizen is supreme”.
Pleading for special rules and provisions to ban the leaders who have lost in Lok Sabha polls from contesting in Rajya Sabha election, the 51-yearold petitioner said that action be taken against the authorities concerned who have “wrongly nominated such disqualified candidates for membership in Parliament”. He said that no reply had been given by the ministry and the poll panel even after repeated attempts were made by him to know why an ordinance would not be passed to prevent such candidates from being nominated to the Upper House. NEW DELHI: The Industrial Training Institutes (ITIS) which offer skill education will soon be developed into formal schools like those affiliated to CBSE and ICSE to enable the ITI graduates to pursue regular courses in other schools and colleges.
A proposal which was mooted by the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, has been accepted by the HRD Ministry and is likely to benefit over 2 million students graduating from over 13,000 ITIS every year. “A separate board on the lines of CBSE and ICSE will be set up which will award certificates at par with those given to students clearing class 10 and 12 from regular boards. This will help ITI graduates to pursue regular courses in other schools and colleges,” a senior HRD Ministry official said. Once the proposal is formalised, the National Council for Vocational Training (NCVT) will be authorised to conduct academic examination and certification for class 10 and 12 for the ITI students. “Following consultations with education boards, bodies like UGC and AICTE will be informed that they should instruct all colleges and universities to recognise ITI graduates as class 12 pass outs,” the official added.