Supreme Court upholds MP’s expulsion in Cash-for-Query scam

The Supreme Court has upheld the expulsion of 11 MPs from the Parliament of India in the Cash-for-Query scam. This decision has been termed as the landmark judgment given by the Judiciary in India.

The court said that the Parliament has the power to expel MPs who were making blunder. It said further in the decision that the procedure adopted by both Houses of Parliament to expel the members cannot be said as illegal.

The five-judge Constitution Bench that was headed by the Chief Justice himself has given the judgment that sealed the fate of the 11 MPs in the connection with Cash-for-Query scam.

Earlier, the matter had become the matter of major debate in the relationship between the Legislature and the Judiciary. Earlier last year, the court had issued a notice to the Speaker on this issue. The Speaker Somanath Chatterjee reportedly opted not to repond on the notice.

When the court accepted the petition against the MPs behavior, the Legislature had termed it as interference in the legislation. The matter had created a rift between the Judiciary and Legislative. The Legislature argued that Parliament is supreme to decide matters falling within its domain not the judiciary.

The MPs had filed a petition and had questioned Parliament's power to expel them from Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha. They had given the argument that under the constitution of India, disqualification must be created by law and not by a resolution of the House. The further argument was that the rights of a member under Article 105 could not be subjected to any restriction.

However, the Supreme Court did not agree with the argument given by the MPs and upheld their expulsion from Parliament.

On the other hand, the expelled MPs can contest elections from their constituencies again but most parties will be reluctant to give them the party tickets.