According to the Constitution of India, disqualification of a member of parliament of Lok Sabha can happen under various circumstances. In this blog post, we will discuss some of the legal provisions and judicial interpretations that govern this issue.
The Constitution of India lays down certain grounds for disqualification of a person from being chosen as, and for being, a member of either House of Parliament. These are:
- Holding an office of profit under the Union or state government (except that of a minister or any other office exempted by Parliament)
- Being of unsound mind and standing so declared by a court
- Losing citizenship or acquiring citizenship of a foreign state
- Being an undischarged insolvent (bankrupt)
- Being so disqualified by or under any law made by Parliament
The last ground is particularly relevant as it gives Parliament the power to make laws regarding disqualification of MPs on various grounds such as defection, conviction in criminal cases, corruption etc. One such law is the Representation of the People Act, 1951 (RP Act), which deals with various aspects of elections and electoral reforms.
Section 8 of the RP Act provides for disqualification on conviction for certain offences. It states that a person convicted of any offence and sentenced to imprisonment for not less than two years shall be disqualified from the date of such conviction and shall continue to be disqualified for a further period of six years since his release.
This provision was interpreted by the Supreme Court in Lily Thomas Vs Union Of India (2013), where it held that disqualification takes place immediately upon conviction, irrespective of whether an appeal is filed or not. The court also struck down Section 8(4) of the RP Act, which allowed sitting MPs and MLAs to retain their seats if they filed an appeal within three months.
Another landmark judgment on this issue was Ravi Naik Vs Union Of India (1994), where the Supreme Court held that disqualification under Section 8(3) depends solely on the actual period of imprisonment which any person convicted shall have to undergo or would have undergone consequent upon the sentence pronounced by the court. The court also clarified that suspension or stay on punishment does not affect disqualification nor does it obliterate conviction.
A recent example of disqualification under Section 8(3) is that of former Congress president Rahul Gandhi, who was convicted by a Surat court in a 2019 criminal defamation case and sentenced to jail for two years on March 23, 2023. The punishment was suspended for 30 days to enable him file an appeal, but this did not prevent his disqualification from Lok Sabha as per Article 102(1)(e) read with Section 8(3) . The Lok Sabha Secretariat issued a notification announcing his disqualification on March 24 .
In conclusion, according to the Constitution of India, disqualification of a member of parliament of Lok Sabha can happen due to various reasons such as holding an office of profit, being mentally unsound, losing citizenship, being insolvent, or being convicted of certain offences. The law made by Parliament, namely the Representation of People Act, 1951, specifies some of these offences and prescribes imprisonment for not less than two years as a ground for disqualification. The Supreme Court has held that disqualification takes place immediately upon conviction, regardless of whether an appeal is filed or not, and depends only on the actual period of imprisonment imposed by the court.