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), 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, was declared unconstitutional by the bench of Justice A. K. Patnaik and Justice S. J. Mukhopadhaya.
Resistance from government 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. The Indian government also filed a review petition, which the Supreme Court dismissed. On 24 September, a few days before the fodder scam verdict, the government tried to bring the bill into effect as an ordinance. 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." 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. Within 5 days, both the ordinance and the bill were withdrawn on 2 October.
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.
List of elected representatives disqualified List of elected representatives disqualified after conviction by a court of law:
RepresentativeParty Representation Case Date of conviction StatusKanwar Lal MeenaMLA from Anta Assembly constituency in Baran district, RajasthanConvicted for 3 years for charges of threatening government officials, obstructing public duty, and damaging property.23 May 2025DisqualifiedIrfan SolankiMLA from Sishamau, Uttar PradeshConvicted for 7 years for charges of arson, assault and threatening to kill a widow for land grabbing.7 June 2024Disqualified.Dhananjay SinghFormer Lok Sabha MP from Jaunpur, Uttar PradeshSeven years imprisonment for abusing a project manager at gunpoint Disqualified and barred from contesting againManoj ManzilMLA from Agiaon, BiharLife time imprisonment on murder caseDisqualifiedSunil Chhatrapal KedarMLA from Savner, MaharashtraConvicted for 5 years in misappropriation of funds at the Nagpur District Central Cooperative Bank (NDCCB). DisqualifiedAfzal AnsariLok Sabha MP from Ghazipur, Uttar PradeshSentenced to 4 years in prison by MP/MLA court in Ghazipur in 2007 Gangsters Act case1 May 2023DisqualifiedRahul GandhiLok Sabha MP from Wayanad, KeralaDefamation case by BJP MLA Purnesh Modi.Conviction stayed by Supreme Court and disqualification lifted Abdullah Azam KhanMLA from Suar, Uttar PradeshSentenced to 2 years in jail by Moradabad court under section 353 of IPC.13 February 2023DisqualifiedMamta DeviMLA from Ramgarh, JharkhandSentenced to 5 years rigorous imprisonment for rioting.13 December 2022Disqualified and conviction stayed by High Court.Anil Kumar SahaniMLA from Kurhani, BiharSentenced to 2 years imprisonment for allowance fraud.29 October 2022DisqualifiedAzam KhanMLA from Rampur, Uttar PradeshSentenced to 3 years in jail by an MP-MLA court in a hate speech case over comments against Yogi Adityanath27 October 2022DisqualifiedVikram Singh SainiMLA from Khatauli, Uttar PradeshConvicted for 2 years12 October 2022DisqualifiedAnant Kumar SinghMLA from Mokama, BiharConvicted for 10 years for possession of arms and ammunition; Later acquitted.21 July 2022Disqualified and acquitted 2 years later.Bandhu TirkeyMLA from Mandar, JharkhandConvicted for 3 years for financial irregularities.28 March 2022DisqualifiedPardeep ChaudharyMLA from Kalka, HaryanaConvicted for 3 years for rioting.14 January 2021Conviction stayed and disqualification lifted.Kuldeep Singh SengarMLA from Bangarmau, Uttar PradeshSentenced to life imprisonment for rape.20 December 2019DisqualifiedRaj Ballabh YadavMLA from Nawada, BiharSentenced to life imprisonment for rape.15 December 2018DisqualifiedIlyas HussainMLA from Dehri, BiharConvicted for 5 years in Alkatra scam.27 September 2018DisqualifiedKamal Kishore BhagatMLA from Lohardaga, JharkhandConvicted for attempt to murder caseDisqualifiedJ. JayalalithaaChief Minister of Tamil Nadu, MLA from Srirangam, Tamil NaduConvicted for 4 years and fined of in disproportionate assets case Accquited on 11 May 2015, however Supreme Court upheld the Trial court verdict. Suresh HalvankarMLA from Ichalkaranji, MaharashtraConvicted for 3 years in power theft caseDisqualifiedT. M. SelvaganapathyRajya Sabha MP from Tamil NaduConvicted for 2 years in cremation shed caseResignedBabanrao GholapMLA from Deolali, MaharashtraConvicted for 3 years in disproportionate assets caseDisqualifiedAnosh Ekka MLA from Kolebira, JharkhandConvicted for life imprisonment DisqualifiedAsha RaniMLA from Bijawar, Madhya PradeshConvicted for abetting suicide of maidDisqualifiedRasheed MasoodRajya Sabha MP from Uttar PradeshConvicted for 4 years in MBBS seats scamDisqualifiedLalu Prasad YadavLok Sabha MP from Saran, BiharConvicted for 5 years in Fodder scamDisqualifiedJagdish SharmaLok Sabha MP from Jahanabad, BiharConvicted for 4 years in Fodder scamDisqualified
See also
Disqualification of convicted representatives in France
References