SC wants fast track courts for ‘tainted’ netas

EC okay with lifetime ban on convicted politicians

Telling the government that the time has come for decriminalisation of politics, the Supreme Court on Wednesday ordered constitution of special courts — similar to fast track courts — to exclusively try MPs and MLAs facing criminal cases, for their speedy disposal.

The order came on the Centre's submission that it was not averse to the setting up of special courts to deal with cases involving politicians and speedy disposal of these matters, as it too favours decriminalisation of politics.

The Bench of Justices Ranjan Gogoi and Navin Sinha also took on record the Election Commission statement endorsing the petitioner's call for a lifetime electoral ban on convicted politicians. . "We support the plea that disqualification should be for life," the EC's counsel said, adding that the poll panel has already written to the government to bring in appropriate amendments to the law in this regard.

Presently, there is a six years bar on contesting on conviction for two years or more for heinous or moral offences.

The court also sought details of criminal cases lodged against politicians between 2014 and 2017 and the data on their disposal; as also how many of the 1581 cases involving MPs and MLAs, as per the 2014 data, have been disposed of within one year.

Fixing the next hearing on December 13, it asked the government to place these detail before it within six weeks. It sought a scheme for setting up the special courts and the amount to be earmarked for them.

There was an interesting exchange between Additional Solicitor General Atmaram Nadkarni, who is representing the Centre, and the bench. When told the court that "the government of India's stand is that decriminalisation of politics has to be done," the bench shot back, "Can there be any other stand?"

When the bench said these special courts would deal exclusively with criminal cases involving politicians, the Centre asked whether these courts could be combined with the special CBI courts which already exist across the country. "No, do not combine it with anything else," the bench said, adding "it is in the interest of nation".

The court was hearing a PIL filed by advocate Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay, a Delhi BJP leader, as also a score of applications by the intervenors seeking to debar the convicts for life from contesting polls and stopping them from entering judiciary and the executive.

During the hearing, the Centre told the Apex Court that recommendations of the Election Commission and the Law Commission, favouring life ban on politicians convicted in criminal cases, is under active consideration.

The Election Commission had first filed an affidavit seeking a life time ban but had wavered on July 12 when it got flak from the court for not taking a clear stand, just because the Centre sought to plead that the PIL was not maintainable and should be dismissed.