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The All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagham (AIADMK) leadership is looking askance at Thursday's Supreme Court verdict barring 'convicted public servants' from holding office until and unless they were cleared by the appellate judiciary.
Coming as it does in the midst of the pending apex court case challenging party supremo and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa assuming office despite her conviction by a trial court and consequent disqualification from contesting elections, the new verdict may have sweeping reach, unintended even under the election laws.
"But the verdict goes beyond Jayalalithaa's case and covers the entire gamut of criminalisation of politics," a senior advocate said.
"If the verdict is extended to cover 'public servants' of the politician class, a mere conviction, independent of the sentence, could stall a politician from holding office for good," he said.
"As per the verdict, a convicted public servant cannot be restored to office as long as that conviction stayed. This means that even after undergoing a term of imprisonment or paying up a fine, he/she would still be debarred from holding office," he explained.
Following Thursday's verdict, B S Kapur, one of those who had challenged Jayalalithaa assuming office despite her disqualification, lost no time in seeking its application to Tamil Nadu chief minister.
Justice K A Thomas and Justice S N Vaivara had noted that 'convicted persons continue to hold office' even when the conviction held good and legal experts feel that Kapur's petition would help set right the 'ambiguity', as applicable to politicians.
A convicted public servant, other than a politician, is automatically terminated from service if the conviction is upheld by the appellate judicial authority.
That being the case, the recent verdict will have greater effect only in the context of politicians.
The Supreme Court needs to clarify Thursday's verdict and its applicability to politicians.
It could use the opportunity provided by Kapur's petition to do so, the advocate said.
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