-The Times of India NEW DELHI: Samajwadi Party on Tuesday said it would rally political parties for amending the Constitution to annul the twin Supreme Court verdicts that legislators be disqualified automatically on conviction and those in jail be barred from contesting elections. SP general secretary Ramgopal Yadav told TOI, "We will talk to political leaders for Parliament to amend the Constitution so that nobody can stop politicians from contesting elections." While the...

-The Hindu However well-intentioned the Supreme Court might be in its efforts to cleanse the political system of criminals, its decision to bar any person who is in jail or in police custody from contesting an election to legislative bodies is a case of the remedy being worse than the disease. By extending the curtailment of the right to vote of a person in prison or lawful police custody to...

-The Indian Express The Supreme Court has delivered a sterling judgment on convicted legislators. It could have gone further Democracy is a basic feature of our Constitution. The entry of people with colourful criminal antecedents in Parliament or statelegislatures is a menace to our democracy. The figures for criminals in Parliament and state legislatures are staggering. They touch 30 per cent of the members in the Lok Sabha and 31 per cent...

-The Telegraph New Delhi: Yesterday's Supreme Court judgment debarring convicted lawmakers from continuing in their Houses has raised a tricky question: what happens if and when a convicted and thus disqualified legislator secures an acquittal from a higher court? Consider this hypothetical scenario: Some 160 candidates who face criminal charges are elected to the Lok Sabha in next year's elections. (Some 162 among the current Lok Sabha's members face criminal charges, so the...

-The Hindu Plan to organise national-level meet in July last or early August Madurai: Democratic forces, Dalit parties, prominent writers and social activists in the State have planned to organise a national-level conference in the last week of July or early August to demand a ‘comprehensive law to curb honour killings and hate speeches against inter caste marriages.' A discussion meeting was held to this effect in Chennai on Tuesday. Puthiya Tamilagam founder...