SP MP moves private member bill to enable convicted legislators to be disqualified only after SC dismisses

economictimes.indiatimes.com:

Rajya Sabha Javed Ali Khan has submitted a private member bill in the house seeking amendment of the Representation of the People Act to insert a provision that a convicted legislator is disqualified from the day his appeal is dismissed by the Supreme Court and not from the day he got convicted. Khan's submission has followed senior SP leader Azam Khan's acquittal in May by another court in a hate speech case after he lost his membership of the assembly owing to conviction in the case by a lower court which paved the way for elections for his Rampur seat.

However, he also remains convicted for two years in two more cases. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi too lost his membership of the Lok Sabha after being sentenced for two years in a criminal defamation case by Gujarat court.

He has, however, not been acquitted by any higher court yet and his conviction has not been stayed. In the private bill titled 'The Representation of the People (Amendment) Bill, 2023', it has been proposed to insert in sub section 3 of section 8 the provision- «Provided that in case of a person who on the date of conviction is a member of Parliament or the Legislature of a State, the disqualification shall take effect from the date of dismissal of the appeal by the Supreme Court against such conviction.» The bill is likely to be introduced in the upcoming monsoon session of the parliament.

Section 8(3) of the law states that a person convicted of any offence for two or more years shall be disqualified from the date of conviction and remain disqualified for a period of six years since his release. Khan has reasoned that following the Supreme Court judgement in the Lily Thomas v Union of India case in which the top court struck down the clause which