Babloo moves SC to contest election

Gangster Om Prakash Srivastava, alias Babloo Srivastava, has moved Supreme Court with a request to stay his conviction in a murder case to enable him to contest the Lok Sabha election from Lucknow, reports Satya Prakash.

Gangster Om Prakash Srivastava, alias Babloo Srivastava, has moved Supreme Court with a request to stay his conviction in a murder case to enable him to contest the Lok Sabha election from Lucknow.

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Babloo is presently serving a life term in Bareilly jail in UP after being convicted last year of the 1993 murder of customs officer LD Arora. In his petition, he said the only impediment in the way of his contesting elections was his conviction.

Interestingly, Sanjay Dutt, the Samajwadi Party candidate for Lucknow, is also a convict with a six-year jail sentence. Currently out on bail, he too intends to approach the court for a stay on his conviction.

According to Section 8(3) of the Representation of People Act, 1951, a person convicted and sentenced to imprisonment for two years or above is disqualified from contesting parliamentary/assembly polls.

So far, the only convicted politician allowed to contest an election is cricketer-turned-BJP leader Navjot Singh Sidhu, who sought a fresh mandate from Amritsar Lok Sabha seat in 2007 following his conviction in a road rage case.