# Disqualification of convicted representatives in India

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Supreme Court of India, in its judgement dated 10 July 2013 while disposing the Lily Thomas v. Union of India case (along with Lok Prahari v. Union of India), ruled that any Member of Parliament (MP), Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) or Member of the Legislative Council (MLC) who is convicted of a crime and given a minimum of two years' imprisonment, loses membership of the House with immediate effect. This is in contrast to the earlier position, wherein convicted members held on to their seats until they exhausted all judicial remedy in lower, state and supreme court of India. Further, Section 8(4) of the Representation of the People Act, which allowed elected representatives three months to appeal their conviction, was declared unconstitutional by the bench of Justice A. K. Patnaik and Justice S. J. Mukhopadhaya.

## Resistance from government

In an attempt to overturn this decision, the Representation of the People (Second Amendment and Validation) Bill, 2013, was introduced into the Rajya Sabha on 30 August by Law Minister Kapil Sibal; by the proposed amendment, representatives would not be disqualified immediately after conviction. The Indian government also filed a review petition, which the Supreme Court dismissed. On 24 September, a few days before the fodder scam verdict, the government tried to bring the bill into effect as an ordinance. However, Rahul Gandhi, then vice-president of the Indian National Congress, made his opinion of the ordinance clear in a press meeting: "It's complete nonsense. It should be torn up and thrown away." Members of opposition parties claimed that Gandhi's comments indicated total confusion within the government, and called for the resignation of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. Within 5 days, both the ordinance and the bill were withdrawn on 2 October.
On 1 October 2013, Rasheed Masood became the first MP to lose his membership of parliament under the new guidelines, when he was sentenced to four years' imprisonment for cheating, forgery and corruption.

## List of elected representatives disqualified

List of elected representatives disqualified after conviction by a court of law:
| Representative | Party | Representation | Case | Date of conviction | Status |
| Irfan Solanki | Samajwadi Party | MLA from Sishamau, Uttar Pradesh | Convicted for 7 years for charges of arson, assault and threatening to kill a widow for land grabbing. | 7 June 2024 | Disqualified. |
| Dhananjay Singh | Bahujan Samaj Party | Former Lok Sabha MP from Jaunpur, Uttar Pradesh | Seven years imprisonment for abusing a project manager at gunpoint | 7 March 2024 | Disqualified and barred from contesting again |
| Manoj Manzil | Communist Party of India (Marxist–Leninist) Liberation | MLA from Agiaon, Bihar | Life time imprisonment on murder case | 16 February 2024 | Disqualified |
| Sunil Chhatrapal Kedar | Indian National Congress | MLA from Savner, Maharashtra | Convicted for 5 years in misappropriation of funds at the Nagpur District Central Cooperative Bank (NDCCB). | 22 December 2023 | Disqualified |
| Afzal Ansari | Bahujan Samaj Party | Lok Sabha MP from Ghazipur, Uttar Pradesh | Sentenced to 4 years in prison by MP/MLA court in Ghazipur in 2007 Gangsters Act case | 1 May 2023 | Disqualified |
| Rahul Gandhi | Indian National Congress | Lok Sabha MP from Wayanad, Kerala | Defamation case by BJP MLA Purnesh Modi. | 23 March 2023 | Conviction stayed by Supreme Court and disqualification lifted |
| Abdullah Azam Khan | Samajwadi Party | MLA from Suar, Uttar Pradesh | Sentenced to 2 years in jail by Moradabad court under section 353 of IPC. | 13 February 2023 | Disqualified |
| Mamta Devi | Indian National Congress | MLA from Ramgarh, Jharkhand | Sentenced to 5 years rigorous imprisonment for rioting. | 13 December 2022 | Disqualified and conviction stayed by High Court. |
| Anil Kumar Sahani | Rashtriya Janata Dal | MLA from Kurhani, Bihar | Sentenced to 2 years imprisonment for allowance fraud. | 29 October 2022 | Disqualified |
| Azam Khan | Samajwadi Party | MLA from Rampur, Uttar Pradesh | Sentenced to 3 years in jail by an MP-MLA court in a hate speech case over comments against Yogi Adityanath | 27 October 2022 | Disqualified |
| Vikram Singh Saini | Bharatiya Janata Party | MLA from Khatauli, Uttar Pradesh | Convicted for 2 years | 12 October 2022 | Disqualified |
| Anant Kumar Singh | Rashtriya Janata Dal | MLA from Mokama, Bihar | Convicted for 10 years for possession of arms and ammunation; Later acquitted. | 21 July 2022 | Disqualified and acquitted 2 years later. |
| Bandhu Tirkey | Indian National Congress | MLA from Mandar, Jharkhand | Convicted for 3 years for financial irregularities. | 28 March 2022 | Disqualified |
| Pardeep Chaudhary | Indian National Congress | MLA from Kalka, Haryana | Convicted for 3 years for rioting. | 14 January 2021 | Conviction stayed and disqualification lifted. |
| Kuldeep Singh Sengar | Bharatiya Janata Party | MLA from Bangarmau, Uttar Pradesh | Sentenced to life imprisonment for rape. | 20 December 2019 | Disqualified |
| Raj Ballabh Yadav | Rashtriya Janata Dal | MLA from Nawada, Bihar | Sentenced to life imprisonment for rape. | 15 December 2018 | Disqualified |
| Ilyas Hussain | Rashtriya Janata Dal | MLA from Dehri, Bihar | Convicted for 5 years in Alkatra scam. | 27 September 2018 | Disqualified |
| Kamal Kishore Bhagat | All Jharkhand Students Union | MLA from Lohardaga, Jharkhand | Convicted for attempt to murder case | June 2015 | Disqualified |
| J. Jayalalithaa | All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam | Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, MLA from Srirangam, Tamil Nadu | Convicted for 4 years and fined of ₹100 crore (US$12 million) in disproportionate assets case | 27 September 2014 | Accquited on 11 May 2015, however Supreme Court upheld the Trial court verdict. |
| Suresh Halvankar | Bharatiya Janata Party | MLA from Ichalkaranji, Maharashtra | Convicted for 3 years in power theft case | May 2014 | Disqualified |
| T. M. Selvaganapathy | Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam | Rajya Sabha MP from Tamil Nadu | Convicted for 2 years in cremation shed case | April 2014 | Resigned |
| Babanrao Gholap | Shiv Sena | MLA from Deolali, Maharashtra | Convicted for 3 years in disproportionate assets case | March 2014 | Disqualified |
| Anosh Ekka | Jharkhand Party | MLA from Kolebira, Jharkhand | Convicted for life imprisonment | 2014 | Disqualified |
| Asha Rani | Bharatiya Janata Party | MLA from Bijawar, Madhya Pradesh | Convicted for abetting suicide of maid | November 2013 | Disqualified |
| Rasheed Masood | Indian National Congress | Rajya Sabha MP from Uttar Pradesh | Convicted for 4 years in MBBS seats scam | September 2013 | Disqualified |
| Lalu Prasad Yadav | Rashtriya Janata Dal | Lok Sabha MP from Saran, Bihar | Convicted for 5 years in Fodder scam | September 2013 | Disqualified |
| Jagdish Sharma | Janata Dal | Lok Sabha MP from Jahanabad, Bihar | Convicted for 4 years in Fodder scam | September 2013 | Disqualified |