Rasheed becomes the first MP to be disqualified from Rajya Sabha

Congress leader Rasheed Masood became the first MP to lose his seat after the Supreme Court struck down a provision that protects a convicted lawmaker from disqualification on the ground of pendency of appeal in higher courts.
Masood's conviction is the first case after the July 10th Supreme Court judgment that struck down sub-section 4 of Section 8 of Representation of the People Act, under which incumbent MPs, MLAs and MLCs can avoid disqualification till pendency of the appeal against conviction in a higher court. The appeal has to be made within three months of the conviction.
The 66-year-old Masood was held guilty in September of fraudulently nominating undeserving candidates to MBBS seats allotted to Tripura in medical colleges across the country from the central pool. His conviction was the first after the Supreme Court struck down a provision in the electoral law that provided immunity to MPs and MLAs from immediate disqualification.
In September, a special CBI court had held Rajya Sabha member Masood guilty in a case of corruption and other offences. Special CBI Judge JPS Malik held Masood guilty of offences under the Prevention of Corruption Act and IPC Sections 120-B (criminal conspiracy), 420 (cheating) and 468 (forgery).
Lok Sabha MPs Lalu Prasad and Jagdish Sharma, both convicted in the fodder scam, also are set to be formally disqualified as the Lok Sabha secretariat.

Representation of the People Act (RPA):

• The Representation of People Act, 1951 (RPA) is an act of Parliament of India to provide for the conduct of elections of the Houses of Parliament and to the House or Houses of the Legislature of each State, the qualifications and disqualifications for membership of those Houses, the corrupt practices and other offences at or in connection with such elections and the decision of doubts and disputes arising out of or in connection with such elections.
• The Act was enacted by the provisional parliament under Article 379 of Indian Constitution, before the first general election. The acts were amended several times, but one of the notable amendments is the Representation of the People (Amendment) Act, 1966 (47 of 1966), which abolished the election tribunals and transferred the election petitions to the high courts whose orders can be appealed to Supreme Court. However, election disputes regarding the election of President and Vice-President are directly heard by the Supreme Court.
• In the Chief Election Commissioner Vs Jan Chowkidar case, in 2013, a two-judge bench of the Supreme court held that since any person confined in prison or in lawful custody of the police is not entitled to vote under Section 62 of The Representation of the People Act (RPA), 1951, the incarcerated person shall also not be entitled to contest elections to Parliament or state legislatures.
• In the same year in the Lily Thomas Vs Union of India case, the same bench of the SC held that Section 8(4) of the RPA, which allows MPs and MLAs who are convicted while serving as members to continue in office till an appeal against such conviction is disposed of, is unconstitutional.