President consults legal experts on the ordinance

President Pranab Mukherjee today consulted a number of legal experts seeking their opinions on the controversial ordinance on convicted lawmakers.

The President's consultations were part of his exercise to firm up an opinion on the ordinance and his course of action, Rashtrapati Bhavan source said.

The ordinance, approved by the union cabinet earlier this week and referred to him, drew a sharp reaction from Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi.

Mukherjee had called Home Minister and Leader of the House in Lok Sabha Sushilkumar Shinde, Law Minister Kapil Sibal and later Parliamentary Affairs minister Kamal Nath yesterday for consultations on the issue.
 

The ordinance seeks to undo the Supreme Court judgement striking down a provision in the electoral law that protected MPs and MLAs convicted for serious crimes from immediate disqualification.