Victory of two candidates who are currently put up in prison on terror charges in just concluded parliamentary election has put an unusual situation for the 18th Lok Sabha to be formed in the coming days. They have constitutional right to take oath as Members of Parliament and the law will keep them from attending the proceedings of the new house.
On Tuesday the Election Commission announced the results of the Lok Sabha polls. While Punjab’s Khadoor Sahib Seat was won by radical Sikh preacher Amritpal Singh and Sheikh Abdul Rashid well known as Engineer Rashid, terror financing accused declared won on Jammu and Kashmir’s Baramulla seat. Engineer Rashid is put up in Tihar jail on charges of terror financing since August 9, 2019. Singh is lodged in Dibrugarh prison in Assam under the National Security Act since April 2023.
Now, the question arises these newly elected MPs who are in jail, are permitted to that the oath, and if yes, how. While, explaining Constitution expert and former Lok Sabha secretary general PDT Achari highlighted the significance of following the constitutional provisions in such cases. He stated that being sworn in as a Member of Parliament is a constitutional right. As they are currently in prison, they must get permission from authorities for the oath taking ceremony in the Parliament. After they take oath they have to return to prison. Achari quoted Article 101(4) of the Constitution that handles with the absence of members from both Houses of Parliament without prior sanction of the Chair. He said that after taking the oath they have to inform the Speaker about their inability to attend the House via letter. Their requests will be referred by the Speaker to the House Committee on Absence of Members. The committee will recommend whether the member should be permitted to remain absent from the House proceedings or not; then the Speaker will put the same in the House.
Both Engineer Rashid and Singh would lose their seats in the Lok Sabha immediately if they are convicted and jailed for a minimum of two years as per the Supreme Court judgment of 2013, which holds that MPs and MLAs would be disqualified in such cases. Section 8(4) of the Representation of the People Act, which earlier allowed MPs and MLAs who are convicted for three months to appeal against their convictions was brought down by this decision.
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