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Supreme Court Dismisses Plea to Bar Convicted Leaders from Heading Parties

Team SoOLEGAL 2 Dec 2017 11:06am

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Supreme Court Dismisses Plea to Bar Convicted Leaders from Heading Parties

The Supreme Court refused to entertain a petition on Friday that sought to ban people who have been convicted in criminal cases and cannot contest elections from heading or floating political parties.

A bench of Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra and Justices A M Khanwilkar and DY Chandrachud asked the petitioner, advocate Ashwini Upadhyay, “How far can the courts go? Let the government and Parliament look into this. Can we stop a convicted person from heading a political party. Will it not be incongruent with the right to free speech? Can the court restrain a convicted person from propagating his political views?”

The petitioner said at present a person convicted for serious criminal offences can form a political party and become party president even after being barred from contesting elections as a candidate. "For instance, Lalu Prasad, O P Chautala and Sasikala have been convicted of major criminal offences but still hold the highest post in political parties," Upadhyay said.

Similarly, courts have framed charges in serious cases against Suresh Kalmadi, A Raja, Jagan Reddy, Madhu Koda, Ashok Chavan, Akbaruddin Owaisi, Kanimozhi, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, Virbhadra Singh, Mukhtar Ansari, Mohammad Shahabuddin, Suraj Bhan Singh, Anand Mohan Singh, Mulayam Singh Yadav, Mayawati and Brijesh Singh etc. Yet, they are holding political posts and wielding political power," he said. [Source: TOI] 


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Tagged: Supreme Court   Justice   Plea   Right to Free Speech  
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