• Members of Parliament can be disqualified from parliament after being convicted and sentenced to two years imprisonment.
• The instant disqualification was because of the Supreme Court of India’s judgment in Lily Thomas vs Union of India (2013).
• Through this judgment, the Court invalidated Section 8(4) of the Representation of People Act 1951, which had allowed a three-month period within which to appeal.

Representation of the People Act (RPA), 1951:

• It is an act of Parliament of India to provide for the conduct of election of the Houses of Parliament or Houses of the Legislature of each State.
• The qualifications and disqualifications for membership of those Houses, the corrupt practices and other offences related to elections and the decision of doubts and disputes arising out of or in connection with such elections.
• It was introduced in Parliament by law minister Dr. B.R. Ambedkar.
• It was enacted by the provisional parliament under Article 327 of Indian Constitution, before the first general election.

Provisions that deal with disqualification under the RPA:

• Disqualification is triggered for conviction under certain offences listed in Section 8(1) of The Representation of The People Act.
• This includes specific offences such as promoting enmity between two groups, bribery, and undue influence or personation at an election.
• Section 8(2) also lists offences that deal with hoarding or profiteering, adulteration of food or drugs and for conviction and sentence of at least six months for an offence under any provisions of the Dowry Prohibition Act.
• Section 8(3) states that a person convicted of any offence and sentenced to imprisonment for not less than two years shall be disqualified from the date of conviction and shall continue to be disqualified for six years since his release.

Provisions for Reversal:

• The disqualification can be reversed if a higher court grants a stay on the conviction or decides the appeal in favour of the convicted lawmaker.
• Significantly, the stay cannot merely be a suspension of sentence under Section 389 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC), but a stay of conviction.
• The law of disqualification has changed over the years.
• Under the RPA, Section 8(4) states that the disqualification takes effect only after three months have elapsed from the date of conviction.
• Within that period, lawmakers could file an appeal against the sentence before the High Court.
• In the landmark 2013 ruling in Lily Thomas v Union of India, the Supreme Court struck down Section 8(4) of the RPA as unconstitutional.

Lily Thomas vs. Union of India case (2013):

• In 2013, Lily Thomas won a landmark verdict from the Supreme Court that struck down a provision in the Representation of the People Act (1951).
• SC held Section 8(4) of the RPA as unconstitutional.
• The SC held that a person who has been convicted of a criminal offence and sentenced to a minimum of two years in prison would be disqualified from contesting elections or holding public office from the date of conviction.
• In 2005, Thomas challenged Section 8(4) of the Representation of the People Act in the Supreme Court.
• While Section 8(3) dealt with the action to be taken in case of conviction, Section 8(4) provided protection to politicians.
• In 2013, a Supreme Court declared Section 8(4) of the RP Act as unconstitutional.
• The court clarified that the membership of a convicted parliamentarian or legislator would no longer be protected by Section 8(4) of the Act.

Impact of the ruling:

• The ruling made it clear that upon conviction, politicians would be immediately disqualified from contesting elections or continuing as members of Parliament.
• The verdict was hailed as a significant step towards cleaning up Indian politics and preventing convicted criminals from holding public office.

Article 102 and 103 of the Indian Constitution:

Article 102:

• The President has the final authority to decide whether a member of either House of Parliament has become subject to any of the disqualifications.
• Before giving any decision on any such question, the President shall obtain the opinion of the Election Commission and shall act according to such opinion.
• Article 102(1) does not permit differentiation between disqualified legislators and the candidates.

Article 103:

• It provides that in the case of sitting legislators, the question of disqualification under Article 102(1) will be decided by the President.

    Restoration of Section 8(4) of the Representation of People Act:

• Politicians belonging to the powerful ruling may be able to get a conviction stayed within a few hours, thus saving themselves from instant disqualification.
• It shows that Section 8(4) needs to be restored and protected constitutionally in order to protect the careers of India’s legislators from abrupt convulsions caused by court orders.
• A suitable amendment in Article 102 can restore the invalidated Section 8(4).

Any Member of Parliament (MP), Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) or Member of a Legislative Council (MLC) who is convicted of a crime and given a minimum of two years imprisonment, loses membership of the House immediately. It emphasized the importance of transparency in candidates'' records. It directs that all candidates contesting elections must disclose their criminal antecedents, if any, to the Election Commission, political parties, and the public.