Singh Retracts Order After Public Rebuke by Gandhi Family Scion

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Source: Bloomberg

Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh withdrew an order that allowed convicted lawmakers to retain office after a public rebuke from within the Gandhi family, which leads his party, caused embarrassment before polls.

Singh’s cabinet, in a meeting yesterday, decided to take back the ordinance that overturned a July Supreme Court ruling barring legislators convicted of crimes from holding public positions, Oil Minister Veerappa Moily said. Rahul Gandhi, vice president of the Congress party that heads Singh’s coalition government, last week slammed the executive order saying it was “nonsense” and it should be “torn up and thrown away.”

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India’s Supreme Court, in a bid to curb the growing criminality in the world’s largest democracy, issued the ruling on July 10 to help close a loophole that allowed repeated appeals against convictions. The ordinance was designed to overturn that verdict and allow convicted lawmakers to continue in legislative bodies.

About a quarter of federal and state legislators face charges including murder, rape and kidnapping, according to the Association for Democratic Reforms, which has campaigned for better governance since 1999. The number of lawmakers charged with offenses has more than doubled in the last 15 years.

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Read more: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-10-02/singh-retracts-order-after-public-rebuke-by-gandhi-family-scion.html

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1. Good