NEW DELHI: The Election Commission (EC), in its suggestions to the Justice J S Verma committee tasked with reviewing the anti-rape laws, has proposed that legislators found to have filed false affidavits with their nomination papers, should be immediately disqualified and punished with imprisonment upto two years.
The EC, whose representatives appeared before the Verma panel on Saturday, sought a tougher punishment for those getting elected on the basis of false affidavits, arguing that withholding or furnishing of false information, particularly regarding a candidate's criminal history that could include rape and murder, amounted to misleading the voters. "A six-month imprisonment is hardly a deterrent; there is an urgent need to enhance it to two years, besides providing for disqualification," the deputy election commissioner and legal advisor appearing on EC's behalf told the panel.
As per Section 125(A) of the Representation of People Act, 1951, furnishing of false information by a candidate in his poll affidavit is an offence punishable with a prison sentence of six months or with fine.
The J S Verma panel - set up in the wake of the brutal gang-rape of Nirbhaya here on December 16 - will submit its report on Wednesday, keeping its one-month deadline for suggesting ways to tighten the legal framework against rape.
Incidentally, though the EC's suggestions to the Verma panel were not specific to rape crimes and dealt with criminalization of politics in general, the panel used the interaction to pitch for a tougher regime to deal with MPs/MLAs convicted for serious crimes.
The EC reiterated its long-standing suggestion for disqualification of a legislator against whom charges have been framed by a court for an offence punishable with imprisonment of five years or more.
To guard against politically-motivated cases, the EC representatives suggested that only cases where charges have framed six months prior to an election be taken into account.
Under Section 8 of the Representation of People Act, 1951, disqualification follows if an elected representative is convicted and sentenced to imprisonment of two years or more.
EC suggests to Justice Verma panel to penalize MLAs filing false affidavits
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EC suggests to Justice Verma panel to penalize MLAs filing false affidavits
