New Delhi, Sep 24 (IANS): The cabinet Tuesday approved an ordinance to negate a Supreme Court (SC) order disqualifying MPs and MLAs if convicted in a criminal case, sources said.
According to the sources, the government opted for the ordinance route after a bill for the same could not be passed in the monsoon session of parliament.
The ordinance would save the elected leaders from disqualification but would take away their perks.
Aiming to change the law, the government had brought the Representation of the People (Second Amendment) Bill, 2013 in Rajya Sabha during the monsoon session, which could not be passed.
The ordinance, once approved by President Pranab Mukherjee, will have to be passed by parliament during the winter session likely November-December.
The government approved the ordinance in a hurry as the SC order was hanging like a Damocles' sword over Congress MP Rashid Masood after a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court convicted him in a corruption case. The CBI court is likely to pronounce the sentence next month, said sources.
In its July 10 order, the apex court said an MP or an MLA would stand disqualified immediately if convicted by a court for crimes with punishment of two years or more.
The order had united all the parties who saw it as dilution of parliament's supremacy and asked the government to do something about it.
The parties had also urged the government to nullify another apex court order which debarred politicians from contesting polls if under police custody.
Parliament passed the bill Sep 6 after Law and Justice Minister Kapil Sibal brought in the proposed legislation.
The parties aired apprehensions that the court order could be misused by politicians' rivals to file false cases on poll eve to get them disqualified from contest.
Presenting the bill in parliament, Sibal said: "Sometimes we make mistakes and sometimes the courts can make a mistake. In this case, they made a mistake and today we are correcting it."
Sibal earlier said there was a general "negative perception" in the country that all politicians were criminals.
President Mukherjee approved the bill Tuesday making it a law.
The presidential nod for the Representation of People (Amendment) Bill, 2013, paved the way for negating a Supreme Court order that restricted politicians in lawful custody from taking part in elections.
The law negates the July 10 Supreme Court order which said that since those in jail could not vote as per the electoral act, they would also not qualify for contesting elections to parliament or state legislatures.