NEW DELHI (TrustLaw) - In a move to clean up India's political arena, the government is planning to amend legislation to disqualify political candidates from contesting elections if they have been charged with committing a crime, the Times of India reported on Thursday.
According to the report, the Representation of The People Act, in its current form, bars only those convicted in criminal cases and sentenced for more than two years.
But with cases against some lawmakers dragging on for decades and long delays in the appeals process -- leaving them free to live and work as normal on bail -- the law leaves a loophole which has been exploited by criminals to enter the legislature, it added.
"If cleared by the Cabinet, the proposal will at once raise the bar for those aspiring to be lawmakers," said the daily newspaper, adding the amendment will also seek to ban those who have been convicted, even if their appeals are pending before higher courts.
Grave offences listed under the proposal include terror, murder, kidnapping, counterfeiting of official stamp paper or currency, sexual assaults against women, offences under the anti-narcotic drugs law and sedition.
According to a 2009 report by the Association of Democratic Reforms and National Election Watch, one third of Indian members of parliament who took their seats in the new parliament that year had criminal charges against them which included murder and robbery.
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