AFSPA's withdrawal will only be on merit: Ashwani Kumar

NEW DELHI: Reacting to the Justice Verma committee recommendations, law minister Ashwani Kumar on Thursday said any consideration of withdrawing the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) will only be on its merit — hinting at no such hasty move by the government which could upset the armed forces deployed in conflict zones. The Justice J S Verma panel, which submitted its report on Wednesday, has asked the government "to review the continuance of AFSPA and AFSPA-like legal protocols in inherent conflict areas as soon as possible". "This is necessary for determining the propriety of resorting to this legislation in the area(s) concerned; and jurisdictional issues must be resolved immediately and simple procedural protocols put in place to avoid situations where police refuse or refrain from registering cases against paramilitary personnel," the panel said in its recommendations.

The law minister said the suggestion has to be seen in totality. "Justice Verma has all the rights to make recommendations," Kumar said, and added that the context is different and it should be looked in totality. That debate is for another day, he added.

On whether an MP should be disqualified if a court convicts him for a crime, the minister said the sitting parliamentarian must be given an opportunity to defend himself by going into appeal. He, however, refused to further elaborate on the issue saying the matter is sub judice and the Supreme Court has asked the government to file its response.  Hearing a petition on January 11 seeking disqualification of convicted elected representatives, the apex court had asked the government to file its response whether a convicted MP/MLA should be treated differently from other convicts who are debarred to contest elections if they are sentenced to a prison term for two years or more.

According to Section 8(4) of the Representation of People's (RP) Act, if an elected representative is convicted and he appeals in a higher court, the disqualification will not take effect until that appeal is disposed off by the court. For the first three months, irrespective of whether one files an appeal or not, no action can be initiated against an MP or an MLA.

Sources in the law ministry said the government is likely to defend the provisions of Section 8(4) giving preferential treatment to MPs and MLAs as it doesn't want to create a vacuum by disqualifying a member who is convicted during his existing term. "A continuity has to be maintained unless a member is finally convicted after exhausting all his chances of appeal," a senior official said.

Source:http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2013-01-25/india/36547400_1_court-convicts-afspa-law-minister