New Delhi: Two candidates from Punjab’s Khadoor Sahib and Kashmir’s Baramulla constituency are presently in jail on prices associated to terrorism and have been elected within the 2024 Lok Sabha election. The end result was declared by the Election Commission of India (ECI) on June 4 which raised the bizarre state of affairs.
As per ECI, Radical Sikh preacher Amritpal Singh secured a victory from the Khadoor Sahib seat of Punjab whereas terror financing accused Sheikh Abdul Rashid also called Engineer Rashid received from the Baramulla parliamentary constituency of Jammu and Kashmir.
Amritpal Singh secured victory from a margin of 1,97,120 votes towards Congress chief Kulbir Singh Zira. Amritpal is the chief of the ‘Waris Punjab De’ outfit and is presently lodged in Dibrugarh jail of Assam underneath the National Security Act (NSA). Rashid received from Baramulla Lok Sabha seat towards National Conference (NC) Vice President Omar Abdullah by an enormous margin.
On jailed candidates being elected in Lok Sabha seats, Senior Advocate Vikas Singh mentioned, “…The number of legislators with criminal charges is on the rise… The makers of the Constitution would have never thought that such people would be elected to the Parliament. A constitutional amendment is needed to specify the charges, holding which, the candidates will be disqualified from contesting elections”
“The irony is, that people in jails cannot vote, but can contest and win elections… A Parliamentary seat cannot lie vacant for more than 60 days, irrespective of whether they have taken an oath,” he mentioned whereas chatting with ANI.
He additional mentioned that the Parliament ought to step in and never let such folks get elected and in instances the place they need to vacate their seats, they shouldn’t be allowed to recontest until the time they’re out of custody.
“It is the need of the hour to bring a law addressing this issue… There is a provision somewhere which allows them to file their nominations by authorising someone, this is how they have contested elections,” he mentioned.
If Amritpal Singh and Engineer Rashid had been to be convicted and jailed for no less than two years, they’d instantly lose their seats, as per the Supreme Court judgment of 2013.
