Bibi Jagir Kaur CHANDIGARH: might have missed place the Cabinet after conviction for forced abortions and his son, but he probably will still remain MLA if he moves before the appeal against the High Court ruling, legal experts say.
Under the representation of the people act, 1951, Jagir Kaur will have the relief of a three-month period, in which he could appeal against court orders CBI special, of Patiala. Experts, however, said that he was never punished before the election, he would be disqualified to contest the polls. On Friday, he was sentenced to five years rigorous imprisonment under section 120-B (criminal conspiracy), 365 (kidnapping with the intent to secretly and wrongfully confine people), 313 (causing miscarriage without the consent of the woman) and 344 (confinement) of IPC.
Jagir Kaur had resigned from the Cabinet shortly after he was sent to the prison centre of Kapurthala but there are questions about its status as an MLA. Election experts and parliamentary law and procedure, senior advocate Satpal Jain said Jagir Kaur will continue to be a member of the Punjab Legislative Assembly until her appeal against a five-year prison term pending before the High Court of Punjab and Haryana.
Jain, however, added that if the conviction is upheld by the High Court, he or she will be automatically disqualified from the Assembly. But, his membership will remain intact if the conviction was reduced from five years to less than two years.
“He would be protected by section 8, subsection 4 of the representation of the people act, which may be enacted by politicians just to protect themselves,” said rights activist and advocate HC Arora.
