Hyderabad: The Supreme Court’s refusal to direct the Election Commission to debar candidates facing serious criminal charges from contesting in elections has come as a breather to especially those who have been framed under ‘grave’ offences.
“Parliament is the supreme law making body in a democratic set up, so we will go by its direction. We are being implicated in criminal cases when we are fighting to protect the interests of the people. People will decide on accepting or rejecting us based on our credentials. So we intend to stand trial in the people’s court in the elections and based on their support, we get either elected or defeated. We continue to serve the people irrespective of the fact that we are elected or defeated in the elections as we are committed to their welfare,” said TDP MLA Thota Trimurtulu from Ramachandrapuram Assembly segment in East Godavari, charged with kidnapping.
BJP MLA, Raja Singh, elected from Goshamahal Assembly constituency and against whom 105 cases have been lodged, said, “We respect the SC judgement, but the EC should ensure that all politicos ‘must’ declare their criminal cases in the affidavit and no one should escape from revealing their criminal career.” Hate speeches, call for open violence, corruption cases, disproportionate wealth, rape, murder and kidnapping have now become the new normal in candidates’ resumes for joining politics.
The present law debars candidates who have been convicted for a period of two years and penalised with a fine of up to Rs 5,000. However, a charge sheet filed against candidates does not debar them from contesting elections. The SC direction has been welcomed, not just by candidates facing charges but also seniors across different parties. TRS MP and Secretary General, Dr K. Keshava Rao, said, “Voting and contesting are a legal right. Unless legislators and parliamentarian charged of serious offences are proven guilty in a court of law, they shouldn’t be barred from contesting . Many a times, opposition parties book false cases against opponents out of political vendetta. Parliament needs to come up with a special law which will keep track of habitual offenders and those committing grave crimes. Such candidates should be kept away from contesting.”
BJP MLC Ramachandra Rao added, “The judgement is welcome; however the new legislature should be harsh on candidates accused in crime against women, terror activity, rioting, attempt to murder, possession of illegal weapons, anti national activities and other serious crime. The law should bar candidates for their moral turpitude and not those framed due to political vendetta. The new law should be rational; it should be framed by learning how other countries deal with criminal legislators and parliamentarians.”
Apart from serious offences, many legislators are charged under other sections of IPC, like disturbing communal harmony, hate speeches, preventing an officer from performing his official duty and more. Of the 119 Telangana MLAs, 64 face criminal cases; forty of them belong to the TRS, nine to the TD, six to the Congress, three to the MIM, two to the BJP and three to other parties. In Andhra Pradesh, of the 175 elected MLAs, 82 are facing criminal cases. While the TD tops the list with 52 MLAs, the YSR Congress is second with 29. As far as the elected MPs are concerned, in Telangana state, eight out of 17 elected MPs are facing criminal charges and in Andhra Pradesh 11 out of 25.
