Confusion prevailed over the disqualification of minister of State for Child Development and Nutrition, Primary Education, Kailash Chaurasia, who has been awarded three years imprisonment in a criminal case on last Friday. While the Assembly secretariat said that Election Commission has the full authority to disqualify any MlA but on the other hand EC officials said that it is the Principal Secretary of the Assembly, who will issue the order and not the EC.
But three days have passed but no decision has been taken yet over the disqualification of Chaurasia, who also contested against Prime Minister Narendra Modi from Varanasi lok Sabha seat. It seems State government was taking time on the issue in search of any way to save the membership of the minister.
On 10 July 2013, the Supreme Court of India, in its judgement of 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 a legislative Council (MlC), who is convicted of a crime and awarded a minimum of two year 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.
Assembly secretariat sources here confirmed on Monday that it is the duty of the EC to notify the disqualification procedure and they are waiting for it. ‘ We have nothing to do with it,’ sources said besides added that it has to be seen whether the punishment of three years were in one section of the crime or the punishment of all the three sections were added up to three years.
However, EC officials here told media persons that neither the court nor the District Magistrate or the state Home Department had informed them about the punishment against Chaurasia but still action in this regard should be taken by State Assembly secretariat. RsRsThe order of the disqualification would be issued by the Assembly secretariat and thereafter they inform the EC,’ the official disclosed. At least eight criminal cases are pending against Chaurasia, in different courts mostly on the charges related to criminal intimidation and charges related to Voluntarily causing hurt to deter public servant from his duty. The minister is elected from Mirzapur Assembly constituency on Samajwadi Party ticket in 2012.
On last Friday, a court of Chief Judicial Magistrate(CJM), Mirzapur, Rajesh Bharadwaj had awarded 3 years imprisonment to Chaurasia in a decade old case. The minister was given 3 years imprisonment and a fine of Rs 9000. However the minister was given bail on surety of Rs 20,000. Kailash Chaurasia was accused in misbehaving with the postman and complaint under section 353, 504,and 506 of the Indian Penal Code was registered against him. The court had sentenced 2 years imprisonment each under Section 353 and 504 of the IPC besides 3 years prison under section 506 of the IPC. All the three jail term would go on simultaneously.