Criminal Cases That Resulted In MPs And MLAs Being Disqualified

NEW DELHI: Rahul Gandhi, the leader of the Congress, was expelled from the Lok Sabha after being found guilty of criminal defamation. He now joins a disgraceful list of legislators who have endured similar treatment in the past.

The Representation of the People Act states that a person sentenced to two years or more in prison is ineligible "from the date of such conviction" and is ineligible for another six years after serving their sentence.

Following are some of the lawmakers whose terms were suspended following criminal conviction and sentencing:

Lalu Prasad: The RJD leader was barred from the Lok Sabha following his September 2013 conviction in the fodder scam case. He was a Bihar legislator from Saran.

J. Jayalalithaa, head of the AIADMK: In September 2014, J. Jayalalithaa was removed from the Tamil Nadu Assembly after being given a four-year prison term in a case involving disproportionate assets. She had to resign from her position as chief minister of Tamil Nadu after being found to be ineligible.

P P Mohammed Faizal: After receiving a 10-year prison term in January 2023 in connection with an attempt-to-murder case, Lakshadweep MP P P Mohammed Faisal of the Nationalist Congress Party was automatically disqualified. The Kerala High Court did, however, later suspend his conviction and punishment.

The MP claims that the Lok Sabha Secretariat has yet to formally revoke his disqualification.

A court sentenced Samajwadi Party leader Azam Khan to three years in prison in a 2019 hate speech case, and as a result, he was disqualified from serving in the Uttar Pradesh Assembly in October 2022. He served as Rampur Sadar's assembly representative.

RJD MLA Anil Kumar Sahni was expelled from the Bihar Assembly in October 2022 after receiving a three-year prison term in a fraud case. He acted as the assembly seat for Kurhani.

He was found guilty of trying to use fraudulent Air India e-tickets to obtain travel benefits in 2012 without actually making the trips.

At the time of the attempted scam, Sahni, a JD-U Rajya Sabha MP, had submitted claims totaling Rs 23.71 lakh. 

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