SC seeks Centre, ECI's response to life-time ban for convicted MPs/MLAs from contesting polls

The Supreme Court on Monday sought response from the Central government and the Election Commission of India (ECI) to a 2016 public interest plea challenging the constitutional validity of Sections 8 and 9 of the Representation of the Peoples Act, 1951, while seeking to debar the convicted lawmakers—both in the parliament and the state legislatures—from contesting elections for life.

- PARMOD KUMAR

As the law stands today a lawmaker loses his membership of Parliament or the state legislature after his conviction and continues to remain disqualified from contesting elections for six years from the date of completion of sentence. The notice on the PIL was issued way back on September 14, 2016.

A bench of Justice Dipankar Datta and Justice Manmohan asked the Central government to file its reply affidavit failing which the court could proceed to decide the matter without government response.

Besides the Central government, the court asked ECI to submit its reply on the plea by a PIL petitioner advocate Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay.

The bench also requested the Attorney General R Venkataramani to assist the court in the hearing of the matter.