Over 60 years have passed since India got its independence. With the passage of time, one hoped, Indian democracy would become vibrant and strong. There are many pillars of democracy, including an independent judiciary, a free press, and free and fair elections. We have the first two intact to a great extent, but not the third. We are on the threshold of a new round of elections — the 15th general election to the Lok Sabha and Assembly elections in three States - and political parties are vying with one another to win votes. Most reprehensibly, efforts are made to acquire the support of criminals. In the 14th Lok Sabha, as many as 93 MPs had criminal charges pending against them. Their trial proceedings have not attained finality.

Section 8 of the Representation of the People (RP) Act, 1951 requires a conviction for a period of over two years to disqualify a candidate from contesting. If he is found guilty of offences under special laws, he would stand disqualified irrespective of the period of sentence. The principle that is relied upon to protect the candidate from disqualification when serious charges are pending is that of criminal jurisprudence — that a person is presumed innocent unless found guilty. However, this is only for the purpose of preventing punishment by way of incarceration or fine. There is no fundamental right to contest an election to Parliament or a Legislative Assembly. A statute can take away the right of such a person to contest, on the basis of the higher principle of maintaining the purity of elections.

Under criminal law, there are at least three stages at which an accused can be relieved of charges. A magistrate trying an offence has first to take cognisance of the chargesheet and then satisfy himself that prima facie an offence has been made out, after applying his mind to the statements and the documents annexed to the Police Report. The case could be closed at this stage. Thereafter the accused has an opportunity at the time of framing of charges to show that no prima facie case is made out or that no reasonable grounds exist to suspect him of the commission of the offence. He would then be discharged. Lastly, an accused could seek quashing of charges under Section 482 of the Criminal Procedure Code.

It would, therefore, be incorrect to apply the presumption of innocence, in a wooden fashion, to the issue of disqualification of a candidate contesting elections without taking note of the damage that otherwise would be caused to the democratic process. Section 8 of the RP Act will have to be amended so that a person against whom charges have been framed by a court for an offence mentioned in Section 8(1), or a person who is charged with an offence which carries a sentence of imprisonment of more than two years, would stand disqualified. However, it is only in a case where the chargesheet has been filed a year prior to the notification of elections that disqualification should apply. Otherwise a rival could easily file a false case and have a chargesheet framed, leaving no time for the accused to get a discharge or have the chargesheet set aside.

In the absence of such an amendment to Section 8 of the RP Act, the Supreme Court in 2002 delivered a judgment in Association of Democratic Reforms, requiring every candidate to disclose, at the time of filing of nomination, any charges pending against him for offences that may involve punishment for a period above two years or otherwise.

It will be a great day for India if, instead of an amendment to the RP Act, every party obtains from prospective candidates a statement of the pending criminal cases against them and allots the ticket only to such among them who possess a clean record. Perhaps Section 29-A should be amended to incorporate in the Constitution and objectives of all parties that no candidate with criminal charges pending against him would be allotted the ticket.

The RP Act has applied a different yardstick in the case of one who is convicted while being an MP or MLA. In such a case, a conviction even for one of the serious offences mentioned in Section 8, or for a period exceeding two years, will not cause disqualification. In another case concerning a candidate in an election, the Supreme Court has held that not only would such candidate have to prefer an appeal or revision petition, but he would have to get a stay on the sentence and of the conviction, to prevent disqualification. This would mean the candidate would have to establish before the appellate court that the findings rendered against him by the trial court are unjustified or perverse.

In the case of a sitting legislator, however, by reason of Section 8(4), the mere filing of an appeal would operate as a stay of disqualification, even if bail was refused and he obtained neither stay of conviction nor a stay of sentence. Obviously, this would seem to be discriminatory and violative of the equality clause in Article 14 of the Constitution. Unfortunately, the Supreme Court appears to feel differently about the allegation of discrimination brought about between a sitting legislator and a candidate. The reasons it gives in Prabhakaran v. Jayarajan for why a legislator must be given a special dispensation do not appear to be sound

3. The RP Act requires a conviction of how many years minimum, to disqualify a candidate from contesting?
   1. 3 years
   2. 4 years
   3. 5 years
   4. 2 years
   Answer & Explanation
   Answer: Option  D.
   Refer to the line in the last sentence of 4th para – “Section 8 …..two years , would stand disqualified.
4. In this passage the author suggests that it would be in the fitness of things if
   1. Political parties verify the police records of all ticket-seekers in order to ascertain deserving candidates.
   2. Political parties give tickets only to those candidates who have a clean record.
   3. That he flew to the king's palace a week after he was born
   4. Criminals voluntarily refrain from participating in elections.
   5. All these
   Answer & Explanation
   Answer: Option  B.
   Only 2 is correct. Option 3 cannot be inferred as suggested by the author. The sentence, “Political parties obtain ………. clean record.” does not mean that the political parties have to verify police records.
5. Which of the following is true?
   1. Under criminal law there are only three stages at which an accused can be relieved of charges.
   2. Criminal jurisprudence means a person is considered innocent unless proved to be guilty.
   3. To help the women of Suvarnanagari in their daily chores
   4. A sitting legislator cannot contest elections if a criminal case is pending against him.
   5. All faculty
   Answer & Explanation
   Answer: Option  B.
   As per the line "The principle that is relied u.......presumed innocent unless found guilty." option B is correct.
   John-Deere Preparation Links

   • John-Deere Sample Verbal Questions
   • All About John-Deere
   • Test Pattern & Selection Procedure of John-Deere
   • Sample Aptitude Questions of John-Deere
   • John-Deere Reasoning Questions

   • Actual John-Deere Interview Questions
   • Technical Questions asked in John-Deere
   • Free Mock John-Deere Placement Paper
   • Join free prep course for John-Deere
   • Complete preparation course of John-Deere
   DIRECTIONS for the question 6 to 7:  For each of the following questions, choose the most appropriate option to fill in the blanks.
6. Because of its tendency to ___________, most Indian art is ___________ Japanese art, where symbols have been minimized and meaning has been conveyed by using the method of the merest suggestion.
   1. overdraw, similar to
   2. understate, reminiscent of
   3. imitate, superior to
   4. sentimentalise, supportive of
   Answer & Explanation
   Answer:  Option B.
   Indian art recalls (is reminiscent of) Japanese art because, like Japanese art, it minimizes; it understates. The clause following "Japanese art" gives examples of what Japanese art is like: it suggests; it does not state directly or overstate..
7. In the absence of native predators to stop the spread of their population, the imported goats ________ to such an inordinate degree that they over-grazed the countryside and _________ the native vegetation
   1. thrived, threatened
   2. suffered, abandoned
   3. propagated, cultivated
   4. dwindled, eliminated
   Answer & Explanation
   Answer: Option  A.
   In the absence of predators, goats would not be killed and hence would thrive. The result would be too many goats and hence overgrazing, which would threaten the native vegetation.
   DIRECTIONS for the question 8 and 9:  In each of the questions given below, identify the best way of writing the sentence in the context of the correct usage of standard written English.
8. Liberalization has gone hand-in-hand and has offered incentives for such things as personal initiative, ambition, loyalty, hard work, and resourcefulness.
   1. Liberalization had gone hand-in-hand with and has offered incentives for such things as personal initiative and ambition, loyalty, hard work, and resourcefulness.
   2. Liberalization has gone hand-in-hand with and has offered incentives for such things as personal initiative and ambition, loyalty, hard work, and resourcefulness.
   3. Liberalization has gone hand-in-hand and has offered incentives for such things as personal initiative, ambition, loyalty, hard work, and resourcefulness.
   4. Liberalization has gone hand-in-hand and is offering incentives for such things as personal initiative, ambition, loyalty, hard work, and resourcefulness
   Answer & Explanation
   Answer: Option  B.
   The right phrase is 'gone hand in hand' and with this phrase we use preposition 'with'. Also, the first part of the sentence should be in present tense.
9. To be sure, there would be scarcely no time left over for other things if school children would have been expected to have considered all sides of every matter on which they had opinions.
   1. To be sure, there would be scarcely any time left over for other things if school children were expected to consider all sides of every matter on which they had opinions.
   2. To be sure, there would be scarcely any time left for other things if working people should be expected to have considered all sides of every matter on which they had opinions.
   3. To be sure, there would be scarcely any time left for other things if working people should be expected to have considered all sides of every matter on which they had opinions.
   4. To be sure, there would be scarcely no time left over for other things if school children will be expected to have been considering all sides of every matter on which they had opinions
   Answer & Explanation
   Answer: Option A.
   The sentence is in the 2nd conditional tense. Here the if clause is in the past tense and the main clause has “would + base verb (be in this case).” In the second conditional the verb be is always written as were. e.g. If I were the president of India, I would completely change the education system of our country.
   DIRECTIONS for the question 10:Each of the following contains a paragraph followed by a question. As your answer select the best of the options given.
10. Unfortunately, only 11 percent of the driving public uses regular seat belts. Automatic restraints are the answers, and the quicker they are required, the sooner highways deaths will be reduced.
    The author’s conclusion is based upon which of the following assumptions?
    1. Only 11 percent of the driving public cares about passengers’ lives.
    2. The use of restraints reduces highway deaths.
    3. Regular seat belts are inadequate safety devices.
    4. It is unfortunate that 89 percent of the driving public does not use regular seat belts.
    Answer & Explanation
    Answer: Option B.
    The conclusion that highway deaths will be reduced with the advent of automatic restraints is necessarily based upon the assumption that such restraints reduce highway deaths. None of the other choices focuses on the conclusion.