No stay on criminal conviction, no contesting polls, rules SC

New Delhi, Dec 9 : The Supreme Court on Wednesday said a person is disqualified from contesting polls if their conviction in a criminal case is not stayed.
The observation from the top court came as it dismissed the appeal filed by Saritha S. Nair challenging the rejection of her nomination papers by the returning officer in the Lok Sabha polls in 2019 from Kerala’s Ernakulam, citing her conviction and sentencing in the solar scam. Congress candidate Hibi Eden won the seat.
A bench headed by Chief Justice S.A. Bobde and comprising Justices A.S. Bopanna and V. Ramasubramanian said: “The disqualification under Section 8(3) (of the Representation of the People Act) will continue so long as there is no stay of conviction. In the case on hand, the petitioner could not obtain a stay of conviction but obtained only a stay of execution of the sentence. Hence her nominations were validly rejected by the Returning Officer.” In the present case, the bench dismissed Nair’s contention that her rejection of her nomination papers was not correct, as her imprisonment of three years was suspended.
Nair contended that she filed nomination in Uttar Pradesh’s Amethi constituency and the same information, about her conviction and pendency of appeals, was disclosed and her nomination was accepted there. She argued that as long as the sentence of imprisonment remained suspended, the disqualification under Section 8(3) is not attracted.
However, the top court dismissed the argument.