Supreme Court declines to consider plea to sack arrested ministers

A bench said the court cannot issue any such direction in view of the principle of separation of power

The Supreme Court on Monday declined to entertain a plea to sack any minister on the ground that a public servant can't continue in his post if he is jailed for 48 hours.

A bench of Chief Justice U U Lalit, S Ravindra Bhat, and J B Pardiwala said the court cannot issue any such direction in view of the principle of separation of power.

In his submission, BJP leader and advocate Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay contended a minister is not only a public servant but also a lawmaker. Such a person should be temporarily debarred from holding the office if he remained in judicial custody for two days.

"You are saying that somebody, the representative of people, who has undergone custody for two days, the representatives of people, should stand barred. This is a matter of legislature to consider," the bench said.

The bench further pointed out every representative represented an electorate. "It is for Parliament to decide because if we do this the electorate stands denied of representation in the house," the bench said.

"We cannot incorporate a disqualification and send somebody out. We cannot do this because otherwise the separation of power principle gets completely submerged," the bench said.

Upadhyay insisted no public servant can continue after going to custody for 48 hours, even the court staff cannot.

The court, however, refused to consider his plea.

Upadhyay has named jailed Minister of Delhi Satyender Jain as well as the then Minister from Maharashtra Nawab Malik in his plea.