Gujarat: Convicted AAP MLA faces imminent disqualification, deepens party’s troubles

Gandhinagar, June 24 (IANS) The conviction and seven-year jail sentence handed to Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLA Chaitar Vasava has placed the party’s Gujarat unit in a fresh political crisis, with legal experts and constitutional authorities indicating that the tribal leader now faces the prospect of losing his Assembly membership unless he secures timely relief from a higher court.

A day after a Sessions Court in Narmada district convicted Vasava and eight others in a 2023 case involving the alleged assault, intimidation and obstruction of forest department personnel, attention has shifted from the verdict itself to its impact on the AAP’s legislative strength in Gujarat and the legal process that could determine the future of the Dediapada legislator.

The verdict marks another setback for the AAP in Gujarat, where the party won five seats in the 2022 Assembly elections but has since faced a series of organisational and political challenges.

The development comes less than a year after Botad MLA Umesh Makwana resigned from party posts and was suspended by the AAP, and weeks after the party regained the Visavadar Assembly seat in a bypoll.

Vasava, one of the AAP’s most prominent tribal leaders and a key face of the party in South Gujarat’s tribal belt, was sentenced along with eight co-accused, including members of his family.

The court also imposed a fine of Rs 25,000 on each convict. Prosecutors had alleged that forest officials were threatened, assaulted and prevented from discharging their duties during an incident linked to action against alleged encroachment on forest land.

Under the law, Section 8(3) states that if any Member of Parliament (MP) or Member of Legislative Assembly (MLA) is convicted of a crime and sentenced to imprisonment for two years or more, they are immediately disqualified from holding office and remain disqualified for six years after their release.

Senior advocate Anandvardhan Yagnik told IANS that Vasava’s immediate course of action would be to challenge the verdict before a higher court. “He has to file an appeal and get the sentencing suspended,” Yagnik said.

Explaining the implications of the sentence, Yagnik noted that punishment exceeding two years carries consequences beyond the criminal case itself.

“A verdict and a sentence beyond two years has an impact on the choice of the people of the area,” he said, adding that such a sentence places an elected representative at risk of losing his membership.

Former president of the Gujarat High Court Advocates’ Association, Brijesh Trivedi, said the outcome of the appeal would be crucial in determining whether Vasava can continue as an MLA.

“Once they approach the higher forum, in this case the Gujarat High Court, he will have a right of appeal, and if in the appeal the sentence is stayed and suspended, then he will continue to be on bail, and that sentence will remain suspended till the final decision by the higher court,” Trivedi told IANS.

“If the High Court does not suspend the sentence but grants him bail during the pendency of the appeal, in that situation, he will lose the right to continue as an MLA,” he added.

According to Trivedi, the appellate court would examine whether there were legal infirmities in the trial court’s appreciation of evidence.

“They will have to establish that the appreciation of judgment was perverse. Unless they point out the perversity in appreciation, they cannot be granted any relief,” he said.

Legal experts broadly agree that the appellate process will be decisive. “Vasava will have to file a criminal appeal before the Gujarat High Court, preferably at the earliest and within the prescribed limitation period, which could extend up to 60 days. He will be required to place on record not only the certified copy of the judgment but also the evidence and other materials to demonstrate any infirmities or perversities in the trial court’s appreciation of evidence,” Trivedi emphasised.

Yagnik said that, as of now, Vasava remains an MLA until a formal order is passed, though he faces the prospect of disqualification due to the sentence awarded by the trial court.

Trivedi said the Speaker could take cognisance of the conviction, pending developments in the High Court.

Former Gujarat Assembly Speaker and former Cabinet Minister Rajendra Trivedi, however, said the process is largely administrative once the official records of conviction reach the Assembly Secretariat.

“The prosecutor will send it to the Legal Department. The Legal Department will send it to the Secretary of the Legislative Assembly. The Secretary will prepare the papers and immediately place them before the Speaker,” Rajendra Trivedi told IANS.

Referring to Supreme Court rulings governing convicted legislators, he said that where the sentence is two years or more, “the person automatically ceases to be an MLA”, though the Speaker is the authority that formally declares the cessation after receiving the necessary records.

He also rejected suggestions that another legislator must first move a proposal before action can be taken. “No proposal is required. This is the legal route,” he said.

The issue gained national attention after the Supreme Court’s landmark Lily Thomas judgment, which struck down legal protection that had earlier allowed convicted lawmakers to continue in office pending appeal.

Since then, legislators sentenced to two years or more have faced immediate disqualification consequences under the Representation of the People Act.

The political significance of the verdict extends beyond Vasava’s individual future. Since entering the Gujarat Assembly in 2022, he has emerged as one of the AAP’s most visible leaders in the tribal belt and was even fielded by the party as its Bharuch Lok Sabha candidate while facing other legal battles.

His conviction, therefore, comes at a sensitive time for the party’s efforts to expand its influence among tribal voters in the state. For now, Vasava remains focused on the next legal step.

His lawyers have already indicated that an appeal will be filed before the Gujarat High Court within the prescribed period.

The speed with which that appeal is heard, and whether the sentence is suspended, may ultimately determine whether the AAP retains one of its most prominent legislators or faces yet another reduction in its presence in the Gujarat Assembly.

–IANS

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