Friday, March 24 2006 14:20 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

New Delhi: The Supreme Court today (Mar 24,2006) referred to a five-judge constitution bench to decide whether a person with criminal background or chargesheeted on issues of moral turpitude could be appointed as a minister.

Referring to the constitution bench a PIL challenging the induction of some tainted persons in the Union Council of Ministers, a Bench headed by Chief Justice Y K Sabharwal issued notices to the Centre and all the State Governments.

The Bench deleted the name of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and some Union Ministers including Railway Minister Lalu Prasad, Mohammed Taslimuddin and M A A Fatimi from the list of respondents, saying that it was not necessary to implead individual ministers as respondents.