New proposed bill asks bankrupt people to stay away from contesting elections

Until now, there was no rule of barring bankrupts from contesting elections, which is why the Ethics Committee of Parliament had to especially recommend the disqualification of absconding liquor baron Vijay Mallya from Rajya Sabha. However, keeping this in mind, there might come a new law to automatically disqualify a bankrupt person from becoming even a lawmaker.

The Joint Committee of Insolvency and Bankruptcy Bill, which is headed by BJP MP Bhupender Yadav, has put forth a recommendation that counts several such disqualifications for bankrupts, and it also includes being disqualified from being elected to any public office through elections or in any local authority. If the government nods yes to these recommendations and it gets incorporated in the revised Bill is expected to be presented in this current Parliament session, this ban could further be extended to people contesting elections for municipal bodies, state assemblies and Parliament.

Also read: 'Forcing Vijay Mallya to come back to India is bad strategy' 'Forcing Vijay Mallya to come back to India is bad strategy'

Mallya, who emerged as one of the most prominent loan defaulters in India, has fled the country and said that he won’t return to India amidst these conditions.

The past few years have seen many businessmen coming to the Parliament and state assemblies, and some of them also have a chequered loan repayment record. This is why the committee has recommended that people who have been declared bankrupt could also not be able to become public servants or being appointed as a trustee for a trust, estate or settlement.

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