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SC to decide review petition on Sidhu's conviction stay
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March 01, 2007 19:13 IST

The Supreme Court on Thursday took on record an application seeking review of its recent judgement staying the three-year conviction of crickter-turned-Parliamentarian Navjot Singh Sidhu, who was involved in a culpable homicide case.

Justice Arijit Pasayat directed that the application be placed before the Bench that delivered the judgement on January 23, staying the conviction.

The 'intervention application' seeking review of the judgement was filed by advocate Lily Thomas, who submitted that the same was illegal as the apex court was yet to decide on her original writ petition, which sought a bar on candidates with criminal records from contesting elections in the country.

According to the advocate, the Supreme Court had on September 30, 2005 sought response from the centre on her petition, which challenged Sections 8 and 9 of the Representation of Peoples Act.

Under the said two sections, a convicted person can contest elections provided the sentence is for a period of less than two years, or if the conviction is for more than two years, the same has to be stayed by the court.

The petition has sought quashing of the said provisions of the RPA as it promoted 'criminalisation of politics'. 

The court had, on January 23, stayed his conviction in a road rage death case, paving the way for his contesting the Amritsar Lok Sabha bypoll, which he won by a big margin.

The advocate in the intervention application has submitted that since a three-judge Bench of the apex court which was hearing her petition was yet to decide the matter, the January 23 order of the apex court staying Sidhu's conviction was illegal.

Her argument was that since the original petition raising questions of law and validity of the impugned sections of the RPA were not yet decided by the three-member Bench, the two judge Bench could not have stayed Sidhu's conviction.


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