In relation to a petition filed in 2016 by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) lawyer and leader Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay, a three-judge bench headed by the Chief Justice of India (CJI) NV Ramana asked the centre to share their position on it clarifying the subject. “From this point of view, we cannot ask the electoral commission to forbid these people from participating in the elections”. The Additional Attorney General (ASG) SV Raju, who appeared from the centre, replied that he had to accept instructions on the matter.
The court also looked at a petition from the Samajwadi Party’s leader (SP) and the MLA Mohammad Azam Khan, who complained that, as a result of court decisions in these proceedings, cases to be heard by a magistrate were referred to a special court. The court, which includes Judges Dhananjaya Y Chandrachud and Surya Kant, found that the Allahabad High Court had “misinterpreted” its previous orders that special proxy and MP/MLA courts would be appointed at both the official and court levels. “Our instructions do not oblige the higher courts to transfer the cases negotiated by the judges to the trial courts,” said the court.
As a result, the court ordered the Allahabad High Court to issue a new notice replacing its previous order of August 2019 designating 62 trial courts as special courts to hear MP / MLA cases and establish such courts at the judicial level. The trial court ordered the court to transfer the entire case file to the special court at the magistrate level, clarifying that “the process begins at the stage reached prior to the transfer of the process, as a result of which” the process does not have to be repeated.
After the discussion, the matter was closed. Upadhyay raised the pending issue of the lifelong ban of convicted politicians which, although adequately dealt with by various court orders, the petition urged higher courts to establish special tribunals for speedy procedures, and also called for a lifelong ban on contesting votes by convicted legislators.
