New Delhi: The Supreme Court today has said that judges must reach verdicts within one year in cases of law-makers accused of grave crimes.
Lower courts have been ordered to expedite trials so politicians are quickly acquitted or disqualified. Judges of those courts would have to explain any delays, the Supreme Court said.
The verdict is an attempt to decriminalize politics by ensuring that politicians charged with crimes are not re-elected because their trials are moving slowly.
The order comes at a time when public frustration with endemic corruption has peaked; Arvind Kejriwal's new Aam Aadmi Party, which says its mission is to deracinate graft from the polity, was rewarded heavily in the December state election in Delhi, forcing other mainstream parties to push clean governance to the top of their list of campaign promises.
"Any order to decriminalise politics is welcome. We look forward to this, " said Shakeel Ahmed of the Congress, which has been pummelled by a voluptuous body of financial scandals.
Currently, law-makers can run in elections while being tried.
But those convicted of serious crimes including corruption, rape and murder are immediately disqualified, according to a landmark Supreme Court judgment last year.
Many politicians charged with serious cases of graft are among those contesting the national election which starts next month. Among them: Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa, YSR Congress chief Jagan Mohan Reddy and BJP leader BS Yeddyurappa and former Maharashtra Chief Minister Ashok Chavan of the Congress.
Lower courts have been ordered to expedite trials so politicians are quickly acquitted or disqualified. Judges of those courts would have to explain any delays, the Supreme Court said.
The verdict is an attempt to decriminalize politics by ensuring that politicians charged with crimes are not re-elected because their trials are moving slowly.
"Any order to decriminalise politics is welcome. We look forward to this, " said Shakeel Ahmed of the Congress, which has been pummelled by a voluptuous body of financial scandals.
Advertisement
But those convicted of serious crimes including corruption, rape and murder are immediately disqualified, according to a landmark Supreme Court judgment last year.
Advertisement
COMMENTS
Advertisement
Restrictive Statutory Provisions Don't Prevent Bail: Supreme Court Publish NEET-UG Results City-Wise And Centre-Wise, Supreme Court Tells NTA "GPS, 7-Layer Security": Exam Body's Defence In Supreme Court NEET Case 'Entire NEET Paper Solved In 45 Minutes Before Exam?': Top Court To Centre "Had God On My Side": Donald Trump Recounts Being Shot At During Rally 32 Dead In Bangladesh Unrest, Protesters Set Fire To State TV Headquarters Google Brings AI To US Broadcast Of Paris Olympics Video: Children Jump On E-Rickshaw, Chase Foreigners For Money In Delhi "Every Time I Try To Eat Healthy" - Video Creator's Editing Skills Amaze Internet Track Latest News Live on NDTV.com and get news updates from India and around the world.