Disqualified MLAs can contest again

The Supreme Court judgment disqualifying 13 of the 37 BSP legislators who defected in favour of the ruling Samajwadi Party in Uttar Pradesh in August 2003...

The Supreme Court judgment disqualifying 13 of the 37 BSP legislators who defected in favour of the ruling Samajwadi Party in Uttar Pradesh in August 2003, has ironically come at the fag end of the Assembly’s term.

Though an embarrassment for the Mulayam Singh government and a setback for the MLAs concerned, legal experts say the real impact of the judgment would be as a precedent for future cases of defection.

It would neither result in the collapse of the Mulayam Singh government—which won a confidence vote on January 25—nor affect the political careers of the MLAs. “The MLAs would be free to contest elections. They cease to be members of the Assembly now, but their future will not be effected,” said S K Mehendiratta, an expert in constitutional and parliamentary law.

Unlike a disqualification due to conviction, the disqualified members in this case would not be barred from contesting polls. “This is more of an embarrassment and a moral defeat for the present ruling coalition, as this group had proved the catalyst in the formation of its government,” said a senior Parliament official.