The Union government on Thursday opposed before the Supreme Court a plea for a life ban on convicted politicians from contesting MP/MLA elections, forming a political party or becoming an office-bearer of a political party.
It also said that ban on bureaucrats for life in case of conviction cannot be equated with a similar restriction on convicted lawmakers, as MPs and MLAs are not governed by any service condition. They, instead, are bound by an oath of office.
"There are no specific service conditions laid down in respect of elected representatives albeit, the fact that the people’s representatives are public servants. The elected representatives are ordinarily bound by the oath that they have taken, to serve the citizens of their constituency in particular and the country in general," the Law Ministry said.
The Centre said public servants are debarred from service for a lifetime if convicted of an offence punishable under provisions of various laws, but a convicted legislator is disqualified only for a period of six years as specified in the Representation of People Act.
The lawmakers' conduct is bound by propriety, good conscience and they are expected to generally work in the interest of the nation; and they are not above the law, they said.
The government's response came on a plea by advocate Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay who sought an amendment to his PIL. He asked the court to issue a direction to the Centre to debar convicted persons uniformly from the legislature, executive and judiciary for life in the spirit of Article 14 read with Article 15 and 16 of the Constitution.
The Centre also pointed out that a five-judge Constitution bench had in the case of Public Interest Foundation (2019) said that criminalisation in politics was a bitter manifest truth but it cannot make the law.