Disqualification

An interim stay by the Supreme Court has restored Mukul Roy’s status as a Bengal MLA, placing the Mukul Roy anti-defection case at the centre of a renewed debate on party loyalty, legislative discipline, and constitutional safeguards.

Kerala MLA and former minister Antony Raju has been disqualified from the Assembly after a trial court convicted him in a decades old case of evidence tampering. The conviction and three year sentence triggered automatic disqualification under the Representation of the People Act, instantly vacating the Thiruvananthapuram seat and once again highlighting the strict link between criminal convictions and electoral eligibility in India.