By Bindo M Lanong
The incongruous expulsion of an elected Member of Parliament from West Bengal, Mahua Moitra of the Trinamool Congress, during last week’s session in Lok Sabha, on corruption charges, prima-facie seems to be dubious in nature, apart from having created a serious precedent for the future of democratic institutions in the country.
Without unnecessarily beating about the bush, one can easily refer to Art 102 and Art 191 of the Constitution of India, relating to this subject of disqualification of membership, either in Parliament or in the State Assemblies, where nowhere is there any mention about debarring any burglar, a murderer, or any criminal from contesting election or being an elected member to such Houses. To be specific, the above said criminals, after having been fortunately elected as such Members to Parliament or other Assemblies in any State in India, are also eligible to hold the office of a Minister or even as leader of the House.
The above two Articles, bar only a foreigner, any person holding any government office of profit, including a registered government contractor and also an insane person who is not necessarily declared by any distinguished legal practitioner but by a competent court and lastly the defectors from one party to another under the 10th Schedule provisions.
To be more precise, many may recall the infamous Bandit Queen of Chambal Valley UP, Phoolan Devi, who contested the election to Parliament, won and became MP Lok Sabha in 1996. She was never disqualified like Mahua Didi, but Devi was found, during filing of nomination papers, eligible to contest as a candidate to the House of the People, despite all her other criminal records, since the nature of crimes she committed fell outside the purview of Art 102 and Art 191 above.
Mahua Moitra is an elected Member of Parliament from Krishna Nagar Constituency, West Bengal in 2019, having won by a margin of over 63,000 votes. The allegations against her are that she was paid to table questions in Parliament, which she denied. On such allegations, an Ethics Committee of Parliament was reportedly constituted and the said committee, having enquired into the allegations, came up with the report which incriminated Moitra and finally when the matter came up in Parliament, majority of members took exception to what Moitra did and finally voted to disqualify her as a Member of the House with immediate effect, despite the voice of the Opposition which was against the Ruling of the Speaker. Moitra claimed that she was never given an opportunity to tell her side of the story, denying of ever having been paid by any party, in whose favour she submitted her questions in Parliament.
The claims and counter-claims on the question of the opportunity of having heard and not heard her, is an easy procedure as laid down in the Rules, to come to conclusion. However the moot issue of disqualifying an elected Member of Parliament, cannot be side-tracked in a casual manner.
Any elected member of the House is declared elected by due process of law, under the exclusive jurisdiction of an Election Commission; whereas, the question of disqualification of such member or members was done by Parliament, more seriously so, when the victim denied the allegations against her and what is more bugging is that reportedly, she was not provided fairly with an opportunity to hear her side of the story.
The gravity of expulsion of an elected member of the elected body, especially of the highest law making Legislature of a democratic country like India, in an outrageous manner, as claimed by the victim herself and others supporting her, will be one of the rarest battles, which will not only confine itself to the victim and those in the Parliamentary domain, but with all concerned, particularly the voters of Krishnanagar Constituency, who have lost their representative in this fashion. If Moitra does not submit hook, line and sinker to the expulsion order, she may in all likelihood, find fairness if she files an appeal before the competent court of justice. It is advisable for her to opt for this course, not only for her personal interest but for all others who will be facing similar tragedies in future, if this order is not challenged. Also if not challenged this will create a precedent for others to suffer like her.
What matters most, therefore, will be the credibility of the final order, which many will look forward to, the order to guide and clean the electoral and parliamentary system, where the role of politics and politicians should be measured on the basis of the retributive need of the people, among other considerations.
Political Vendetta
Some political observers have attributed the harsh expulsion of Moitra to political vendetta. It is known that the Trinamool Congress of Mamata Banerjee commands a huge following in West Bengal and that the BJP has had to suffer defeat at the hands of the Trinamool. Hence the BJP has found Mohua Moitra a fair game to avenge the Trinamool and now that time has presented itself in Moitra’s expulsion. And yet many more aggressive programmes are lying in wait in the BJP’s agenda, including the Uniform Civil Court (UCC), which they are gearing up in full swing to experiment in some states and for all this, they will require more strength, both in Parliament and in the States.
The expulsion of an elected Member of Parliament is a high-profile case, which has caught the attention of all concerned, including those beyond the Indian frontiers and many are eagerly awaiting for the final outcome.
The three pillars of a vibrant Democracy which include the Executive, Legislature and Judiciary will apparently be involved in this expulsion issue, since it is the Executive which conclusively deals with the subject of Election. The Legislature by a majority expelled the elected member of the House and finally when the matter is referred to the Judiciary, ‘Merit’ of the case has always been the outcome of a verdict.
Hopefully the meritorious verdict after her appeal, will set the case at rest.
(The author is a former minister and Speaker Meghalaya Legislative Assembly)