The Punjab and Haryana High Court has recently remarked that it is unfortunate that till now minimum educational qualification has not been made mandatory for MLAs and MPs. While hearing a case, the court has said that the regret expressed by the first President of India, Dr. Rajendra Prasad, for not making minimum qualification mandatory to become an MLA and MP has not been addressed till date. During this, Justice Mahabir Singh Sindhu referred to the address given by Dr. Prasad in the Constituent Assembly on 26 November 1949 in which he had said that it is not right to insist on higher qualification for those who administer or help administer the law rather than those who make laws.
During the hearing, the court said, “Almost 75 years have passed but it is still awaited. Even today, no educational qualification is required to become a cabinet minister.” The court said, “In our country, any person can become an MP or MLA.” The court made this remark while dismissing a criminal complaint. It was alleged that BJP leader and former Legislative Assembly member Rao Narbir Singh had given wrong information about his educational qualification in the nomination form.
What is the matter?
RTI activist Harinder Dhingra had alleged that Narbir Singh had claimed in 2005 that he had graduated from Hindi University Hindi Sahitya Sammelan Praya in 1986 but later mentioned that he had graduated from “Hindi University Allahabad”. However, the UGC in a reply under the RTI Act said there was no such university, Dhingra told the court.
The court rejected
Dismissing the appeal, Justice Sindhu said the magistrate had given good and sufficient reasons while dismissing the complaint. The court found that Singh had a graduation degree at the time of filing nomination papers in 2005 and 2014. The court said, “It is needless to reiterate that till date in our country there is no requirement of any educational qualification to contest election as MLA or MP.” The High Court also rejected the argument that since Singh had given contradictory information about the graduation year, he is guilty of making a false declaration in the nomination form.