Jailed Amritpal Singh's likely election bid: Can a person behind bars contest polls in India? What does the law say?

Jailed pro-Khalistan leader , who is currently lodged in a jail in Assam, is keen to contest the Lok Sabha polls from Punjab's Khadoor Sahib seat as an independent candidate. 

Singh, chief of the 'Waris Punjab De' outfit, was arrested in April last year after being booked under the National Security Act (NSA).

This raises the question whether a jailed person can contest elections in India? The issue has been debated for long and has even reached courts, including the And there have been innumerable politicians who have contested and won elections, while being behind bars. Let us dissect the nuances of the issue from the legal perspective.

First, no one is barred from contesting elections unless convicted. Even for convicted politicians, the disqualification is not more than 6 years post the expiry of the jail term.

As per the existing laws, if a person is convicted and sentenced to a jail term not less than two years, he/she stands disqualified automatically from contesting elections for six years from the date of release. 

This rule is mentioned in Section 8 of the , which deals with disqualification of politicians from assembly and Parliament, after being convicted.

“A person convicted of any offence and sentenced to imprisonment for not less than two years other than any offence referred to in sub-section (1) or sub-section (2) shall be disqualified from the date of such conviction and shall continue to be disqualified for a further period of six years since his release," reads the Section 8(3) in the

The six-year ban on contesting elections for convicted politicians has reached courts time and again. Last year, in one of the cases, the Supreme Court was been urged to consider imposing in certain offences, instead of