NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court has formally sought the views of the Narendra Modi government and the Election Commission on a public interest litigation demanding a lifetime ban on convicted politicians after a quick trial which should end in a year.The PIL sought to highlight the incongruity of allowing convicted politicians to continue to run for office while disallowing bureaucrats and judicial officers similarly convicted under the law from ever holding their offices again.The petition said that 34 per cent of MPs have criminal cases pending against them but the executive was doing nothing to deal with the problem. At least 25 per cent of them are involved in serious and heinous crimes such as rape, murder, attempt to murder, loot, dacoity and extortion, it said. A bench, comprising justices Kurian Joseph and RF Nariman, issued the notices on Wednesday.The PIL filed by Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay, the spokesman of Delhi BJP, expressed concern over what it said was growing corruption and criminalisation of politics in the country. The petitioner argued that the lack of systemic checks had resulted in the entry of a large number of criminals into Parliament and state assemblies. “In executive and judiciary, when a person is convicted for any criminal offence, he is suspended automatically and debarred from services for life.However, this rule is applied differently in case a convicted person is a legislator,” the PIL said.“Even after conviction and undergoing sentence, a convicted person can form his own party and eligible to become the office bearer of any political party,” it said. Moreover, a convicted person is eligible to contest elections and is eligible to become a member of a house and even a minister after expiry of six years from the date of conviction, the PIL contended.