India, Feb. 13 -- The Supreme Court is preparing to examine a legislative provision, which allows convicted legislators to rejoin the political arena, six years after they have served their sentence. The court has questioned the logic behind having a separate law for politicians to re-enter public service after six years when government servants convicted in a criminal offence are barred for life.

The issue before the court was raised in a public interest litigation (PIL) filed by advocate Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay, raising a constitutional challenge to the validity of sections 8 and 9 of the Representation of Peoples Act, 1951. Section 8 provides that a legislator of a state assembly or Parliament gets disqualified to contest election for ...