Supreme Court Won't Disqualify Ministers With Criminal Charges

New Delhi:  The Supreme Court today refused to disqualify ministers with criminal cases, leaving the decision to the "Prime Minister's wisdom". "No disqualification can be prescribed," a Constitution bench of the country's five senior most judges said. "It is expected that the PM will not appoint persons against whom charges have been framed and he is facing trial. The PM and Chief Ministers should decide," it added. The case dates back to 2004, when a petitioner sought the removal of Lalu Prasad Yadav, Mohammed Taslimuddin, MAA Fatmi and Jai Prakash Yadav from the Congress-led UPA government at the time. His plea was dismissed and later taken up for review by the country's five senior most judges. The Centre had argued that removing ministers is against the Constitutional prerogative of Parliament and the will of the people, and that "once a person is an MP, he is entitled to be in the council of ministers, if the Prime Minister decides." The counter argument by senior lawyer Rakesh Dwivedi, who assisted the top court, was that politicians against whom charges have been framed in court should not be made ministers at all. Prime Minister Narendra Modi's cabinet has 14 ministers with police cases against them. Uma Bharti, the minister for Water Resources, has 13 cases against her, including two charges related to murder and six charges of rioting. Road Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari has four cases against him, including one charge related to criminal intimidation. Ministers Upendra Kushwaha and Raosaheb Dadarao Danve each face four cases. Another minister, Nihalchand Meghwal, was recently summoned by a Rajasthan court in a rape case. The Election Commission has repeatedly said candidates with a criminal past should be barred from contesting elections. NDTV