Role played by Supreme Court (SC)

♤ In Lily Thomas case (2013), SC ruled that a sitting MP and MLA convicted of a jail term of two years or more would lose their seat in the legislature immediately.

♤ Introduction of None Of The Above (NOTA) option in PUCL vs Union of India, 2014

to put moral pressure on political parties to put up clean candidates.

♤ In UoI vs ADR 2002, the SC directed that all the contesting candidates shall disclose their assets and liabilities, criminal conviction, if any, and pending cases in court of law at the time of filling the nomination papers.

♤ The SC in 1997 directed all the High Courts not to suspend the conviction of a person on appeal if he was convicted and sentenced to imprisonment by a trial court under the Prevention of Corruption Act 1988.

♤ In Public Interest Foundation Vs UoI 2014, the SC directed the trial courts to complete the trial of cases involving the legislators within one year.

♤ Recently, SC also recommended setting up fast-track courts to deal with the cases involving the legislature.