SC refers issue of tainted Ministers to 5-judge Constitution bench

New Delhi, Aug 29 (UNI) The Supreme Court today referred to a five-judge Constitution bench a petition seeking removal of tainted Ministers from the Union government as well as the states.

A bench comprising Chief Justice K G Balakrishnan, Justices P Sathasivam and J M Panchal referred the petition filed by one Manoj Narula to the Constitution bench as the petition raises an important issue of public importance.

According to the petitioner, the exclusion of Ministers with criminal background or those facing corruption charges is a must to clean public life and criminalisation of politics in the country cannot be checked unless and until the criminals and the corrupt are debarred from becoming Ministers.

People with dubious antecedents and murky track records cannot be permitted to decide the fate of the nation and clean public life must be the hallmark of democracy.

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