Few judicial decisions in recent times have created as much popular enthusiasm as the Supreme Court judgment on Wednesday that seeks to get lawmakers convicted in serious criminal cases thrown out of Parliament and state legislatures.
The interest in the apex court’s ruling appears to be directly proportional to the disregard in which present day politicians are held in the country.
Clearly, such a sorry of state of affairs obtains because the deficiencies in our electoral laws permits those with criminal antecedents to literally get away with murder and stay put in the national and state legislatures with relative ease. This has in substantial measure led to the debasement of our political culture and the fabrication of the criminal-politician nexus, and is not a little responsible for the degradation of our governance.
It must be clearly understood that clean ministers — who would keep a wary eye out for a clean bureaucracy and administration — can only arise from a pool of clean MLAs, MLCs and MPs. The data is pretty shocking — some 30 per cent of all legislators in the country have a criminal charge pending against their name, and it is a good chance that a good number of them will be convicted. Much would depend on the speed with which the courts dispose of cases.
The way things are, a man facing a criminal charge is not debarred from contesting elections and can easily become a minister. If he is convicted while he is a legislator, all he needs to do is to appeal to a higher court within three months. The glacial pace at which judicial decisions come, a convicted minister can, with luck, clear two five-year terms in office. Fortunately, the apex court judgment has made this a thing of the past as far as the legal aspect goes. What we see now is some acceleration in dealing with criminal cases. It is no bad idea that fast-tracking should be done in cases involving legislators. This would at least take away the smugness of the corrupt and the criminal-minded among the political class.
The major political parties have made the right noises about the Supreme Court judgment, but are yet to proffer their formal view. The government is likely to be guided by their official views before it decides whether to appeal against the verdict or not. But no matter what the government may do in search of consensus, we hope that the Congress and the BJP support the apex court. It’s welcome verdict does not plug corruption fully. That can be done in a basic way when Election Commission proposals, pending since 1998, to bar criminals and tainted people from contesting elections, are put into effect.