Court to decide on Patel's punishment: Raj Speaker
Jaipur: As Bagidora MLA Jaikrishna Patel of the Bharat Adivasi Party (BAP) was arrested red-handed by the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) while allegedly accepting a Rs 20 lakh bribe, questions about the future of his Assembly membership are circulating widely in political circles.
Patel had reportedly struck a Rs 2 crore deal with a mining leaseholder from Todabhim in exchange for withdrawing questions related to the mining department from the Rajasthan Assembly. The bribe was to be paid in instalments. Following the arrest on Sunday, speculation has grown over whether the MLA might lose his seat in the Assembly.
Rajasthan Assembly Speaker Vasudev Devnani said the court decision will guide further action and that the court will decide on the MLA's guilt and punishment. 'Only after the court's verdict, action will be taken in accordance with legislative rules and procedures,' he said.
'In a democracy, the public court -- i.e., elections -- also has its role. Many individuals have even won elections while in jail,' he added, underlining that premature disqualification is not possible without a legal judgment.
Rajya Sabha MP Ghanshyam Tiwari noted that if an MLA asks a question in the Assembly and later withdraws it in exchange for money, it constitutes a violation of legislative privilege. 'In such cases, the Privilege Committee can investigate, and the Speaker has the authority to terminate membership based on its findings,' Tiwari said.
He cited past instances in Parliament where members were disqualified for similar misconduct. Under Section 8(3) of the Representation of the People Act, 1951, if an MLA or MP is convicted and sentenced to two years or more in prison, their membership is automatically revoked. Additionally, they are barred from contesting elections for the next six years. Convictions under charges like communal incitement, corruption, and sexual assault fall under this provision. Jaikrishna Patel represents the Bagidora Assembly constituency in Rajasthan's Banswara district.
He won the seat in a by-election held on June 4, 2024, defeating BJP's Subhash Tambolia by a margin of 51,434 votes. The bypoll was necessitated after former Congress MLA Mahendrajit Singh Malviya resigned to join the BJP and contest the Lok Sabha elections.
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