"Only those MPs/MLAs will be barred from contesting who have been chargesheeted for heinous crimes and where the sentence would not be less than seven years," law minister Kapil Sibal said.
The minister told TOI that the government will not wait for the Law Commission to give its recommendation on this issue and would circulate the draft bill for its opinion to ministries concerned for their opinion before bringing before the Cabinet for its approval.
"We are ready with the draft bill and it will be circulated soon and then it will be taken to the Cabinet," Sibal said.
He said the proposed bill was made much earlier and referred to the Law Commission for its views. "Now, we will not wait for the Law commission to send its recommendation and move it in the forthcoming session after inter-ministerial consultations," he added.
At present, a related matter is pending before the Supreme Court where in a PIL; an NGO, Public Interest Foundation (PIF), has demanded that the chargesheeted lawmakers should be kept away from contesting elections.
After hearing of the PIF plea, the apex court had on October 8 asked the Election Commission (EC) to file its response within a month when the government argued that the issue raised in the petition are policy matters and come under exclusive jurisdiction of the legislature.
Before the next hearing of the case in SC, the government has declared its intent on actually bringing a bill that would ban lawmakers against whom chargesheet has been filed for heinous crimes.
The move to bring the proposed legislation could avert another adverse ruling from the apex court on a sensitive issue, especially when many politicians, including elected representatives, are facing trial after framing of charges against them in serious offences. These politicians, under existing law, are entitled to contest elections because of the cardinal principle: an accused is presumed innocent till pronounced guilty.
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