The salutary effect of the Supreme Court ruling of July this year, which takes away the immunity of MPs and MLAs from incurring immediate disqualification on being convicted, can be seen right away in the case of Congress Rajya Sabha MP Rasheed Masood.
It may not be a bad idea for courts to fast-track cases involving legislators when we are only months from the next general election. This will serve as an object lesson for incoming MPs and have a demonstration effect on state legislators. For the people, the experience is likely to be cathartic.
Masood, who is also a member of the Congress Working Committee, has been held guilty by a special CBI judge of fraudulently getting undeserving students admitted to a medical college in Tripura. He did this some 20 years ago when he was a minister in the Janata Dal government, and joined the Congress subsequently.
Masood becomes the first legislator to be disqualified under the altered provision. He cannot hold on to his seat in Parliament even if he proposes to challenge the judgment. A provision of the Representation of the People Act earlier used to let legislators stick around as MLA or MP as they appealed a criminal sentence. The logic was that if several were disqualified, a government’s stability may be affected. The point, however, is that a government might as well go if it depends on undeserving elements.