Supreme Court of India, in its judgement dated 10 July 2013 while disposing the Lily Thomas v. Union of India case (along with Lok Prahari v. Union of India),[1] ruled that any Member of Parliament (MP), Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) or Member of the Legislative Council (MLC) who is convicted of a crime and given a minimum of two years' imprisonment, loses membership of the House with immediate effect. This is in contrast to the earlier position, wherein convicted members held on to their seats until they exhausted all judicial remedy in lower, state and supreme court of India. Further, Section 8(4) of the Representation of the People Act, which allowed elected representatives three months to appeal their conviction,[2] was declared unconstitutional by the bench of Justice A. K. Patnaik and Justice S. J. Mukhopadhaya.[3]
In an attempt to overturn this decision, the Representation of the People (Second Amendment and Validation) Bill, 2013, was introduced into the Rajya Sabha on 30 August by Law Minister Kapil Sibal; by the proposed amendment, representatives would not be disqualified immediately after conviction.[4] The Indian government also filed a review petition, which the Supreme Court dismissed.[5] On 24 September, a few days before the fodder scam verdict, the government tried to bring the bill into effect as an ordinance.[6] However, Rahul Gandhi, then Vice-President of the Indian National Congress, made his opinion of the ordinance clear in a press meeting: "It's complete nonsense. It should be torn up and thrown away."[7] Members of opposition parties claimed that Gandhi's comments indicated total confusion within the government, and called for the resignation of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.[8] [9] Within 5 days, both the ordinance and the bill were withdrawn on 2 October.[10]
On 1 October 2013, Rasheed Masood became the first MP to lose his membership of parliament under the new guidelines, when he was sentenced to four years' imprisonment for cheating, forgery and corruption.[11]
List of elected representatives disqualified after conviction by a court of law:
| Representative | Party | Representation | Case | Date of conviction | Status | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rahul Gandhi | Lok Sabha MP from Wayanad, Kerala | Defamation case by BJP MLA Purnesh Modi.[12] | Conviction stayed by Supreme Court and disqualification lifted [13] | |||
| Dhananjay Singh | Former Lok Sabha MP from Jaunpur, Uttar Pradesh | Seven years imprisonment for abusing a project manager at gunpoint | Disqualified from standing again [14] | |||
| Manoj Manzil | MLA from Agiaon, Bihar | Life time imprisonment on murder case | Disqualified[15] | |||
| Sunil Chhatrapal Kedar | MLA from Savner, Maharashtra | Convicted for 5 years in misappropriation of funds at the Nagpur District Central Cooperative Bank (NDCCB). | Disqualified[16] | |||
| Afzal Ansari | Lok Sabha MP from Ghazipur, Uttar Pradesh | Sentenced to 4 years in prison by MP/MLA court in Ghazipur in 2007 Gangsters Act case | 1 May 2023 | Disqualified[17] | ||
| Abdullah Azam Khan | MLA from Suar, Uttar Pradesh | Sentenced to 2 years in jail by Moradabad court under section 353 of IPC. | 13 February 2023 | Disqualified[18] | ||
| Azam Khan | MLA from Rampur, Uttar Pradesh | Sentenced to 3 years in jail by an MP-MLA court in a hate speech case over comments against Yogi Adityanath | 27 October 2022 | Disqualified[19] [20] | ||
| Vikram Singh Saini | MLA from Khatauli, Uttar Pradesh | Convicted for 2 years | 12 October 2022 | Disqualified | ||
| J. Jayalalithaa | Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu,MLA from Radhakrishnan Nagar, Tamil Nadu | Convicted for 4 years and fined of in disproportionate assets case but only the imprisonment was nullified due to abatement. | Deceased and Abated | |||
| Kamal Kishore Bhagat | MLA from Lohardaga, Jharkhand | Convicted for attempt to murder case | Disqualified[21] | |||
| Suresh Halvankar | MLA from Ichalkaranji, Maharashtra | Convicted for 3 years in power theft case | Disqualified[22] | |||
| T. M. Selvaganapathy | Rajya Sabha MP from Tamil Nadu | Convicted for 2 years in cremation shed case | Resigned[23] | |||
| Babanrao Gholap | MLA from Deolali, Maharashtra | Convicted for 3 years in disproportionate assets case | Disqualified[24] | |||
| Anosh Ekka | MLA from Kolebira, Jharkhand | Convicted for life imprisonment | Disqualified[25] | |||
| Asha Rani | MLA from Bijawar, Madhya Pradesh | Convicted for abetting suicide of maid | Disqualified[26] | |||
| Rasheed Masood | Rajya Sabha MP from Uttar Pradesh | Convicted for 4 years in MBBS seats scam | Disqualified[27] | |||
| Lalu Prasad Yadav | Lok Sabha MP from Saran, Bihar | Convicted for 5 years in Fodder scam | Disqualified[28] | |||
| Jagdish Sharma | Lok Sabha MP from Jahanabad, Bihar | Convicted for 4 years in Fodder scam | Disqualified | |||
1) Anant Kumar Singh RJD MLA disqualified from Bihar Legislative Assembly in July 2022 due to arms and ammunition recovered from his house he immediately disqualified
2) Ilyas Hussain RJD MLA disqualified from Bihar Legislative Assembly in corruption case
3) Kuldeep Singh Sengar BJP MLA disqualified from Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly due to rape case in 2020
4) Raj Ballabh Yadav RJD MLA from Bihar Legislative Assembly disqualified due to rape case 2018 conviction
5) Anil Kumar Sahni RJD MLA from Bihar Legislative Assembly disqualified in October 2022 in forged air ticket claim for three years
6) Pradeep Chaudhary INC MLA disqualified from Haryana Legislative Assembly in January 2021 for three years in assault case.
28)https://www.news18.com/india/cpiml-liberation-mla-disqualified-from-bihar-assembly-8781905.html
29)https://www.hindustantimes.com/cities/lucknow-news/dhananjay-singh-s-conviction-opens-up-poll-battle-in-jaunpur-101709746047182.html
30)https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/patna/bihar-convicted-rjd-mla-anant-kumar-singh-disqualified-from-assembly/articleshow/92910146.cms
31)https://www.livehindustan.com/bihar/story-rjd-mla-ilyas-hussain-disqualified-from-the-assembly-after-court-sentence-2275332.html
32)https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/unnao-rape-convict-sengar-disqualified-from-up-house/articleshow/74309745.cms
33) https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/bihar-assembly-disqualifies-rjd-lawmaker-raj-ballabh-yadav-after-court-awards-him-life-sentence-1968566
34)https://indianexpress.com/article/india/look-back-mps-mlas-disqualified-after-conviction-8516305/