New Delhi: The Supreme Court Thursday suspended the conviction of BSP MP from Ghazipur Afzal Ansari noting that “while the pending appeal raises significant legal and factual issues, it is exigent that the appellant’s future not be left hanging in the balance solely due to the said conviction”.
A bench of Justices Surya Kant, Ujjal Bhuyan and Dipankar Datta by a majority view of 2:1 granted partial relief to Ansari allowing him to contest the next Lok Sabha polls but holding that he would not be entitled to participate in the proceedings of the House, or right to cast vote or draw any perks of monetary benefits.
The bench suspended his conviction given the severity of consequences including his disqualification to contest the forthcoming general elections next year. “Although ‘moral turpitude’ may carry relevance within the context of elected representatives, the courts are bound to construe the law in its extant state and confine their deliberations to those facets explicitly outlined, rather than delving into considerations about the moral rectitude or ethical character of actions”, said the majority judgment.
“This is especially true when it is solely motivated by the convicted individual’s status as a political representative, with the aim of disqualification pursuant to the Representation of People Act”, added the bench. The apex court also ordered that no notification for by-election to his constituency should be issued.
Senior advocate A M Singhvi, representing Ansari, had questioned the validity of the July 24, 2023 judgment by the Allahabad High Court which, though suspended his four-year jail term, declined to suspend his conviction by the MP/MLA court of April 19, 2023 for the offences registered in 2007 under the UP Gangsters Act.
Justice Kant, who authored a majority judgement with Bhuyan, took into consideration the severity of consequences which would effectively disqualify him from contesting elections for a period of 10 years. "While the pending appeal raises significant legal and factual issues, it is exigent that the appellant’s future not be left hanging in the balance solely due to the said conviction," the bench said.
The apex court observed that though the gang chart projected the appellant as a repeat offender, the fact remained that he has not been convicted in any prior case, apart from the case presently under consideration. In this context, the detailed circumstances served as compelling reasons to advocate for the suspension of his conviction and the consequent disqualification, the majority view said.
"It would thus be appropriate for the courts to balance the interests of protecting the integrity of the electoral process on one hand, while also ensuring that constituents are not bereft of their right to be represented, merely consequent to a threshold opinion, which is open to further judicial scrutiny," the majority judgment said.
