JUDGMENT : W.P. (C) Nos. 242/2001, 245/2001, 246/2001 and 261/2001 1. Rule. 2. A question of great constitutional importance arises in these matters, namely, whether a person who has been convicted of a criminal offence and whose conviction has not been suspended pending appeal can be sworn in and can continue to function as Chief Minister of a State. The writ petitions shall, therefore, be heard by a Constitution Bench and given the importance and urgency, they shall be listed in the week commencing 3rd September, 2001, subject to the administrative directions of the Hon'ble the Chief Justice of India before whom these papers shall be placed. 3. Liberty to the respondents to file counters within four weeks. I.A. No. 1/2001 in W.P. (C) No. 242/ 2001: 4. Application for intervention is dismissed. I.A. No. 2/2001 in W.P. (C) No. 246/ 2001: 5. On the application of learned counsel for the applicant, the interlocutory application is dismissed as withdrawn. W.P. (C) No. 251/2001: 6. The petitioner in-person is not present. The writ petition is dismissed. S.L.P. (C) No. 11763/2001: 7. Issue notice and tag with W.P. (C) No. 242 of 2001. For Petitioner(s) WP 242 of 2001 Ashok H. Desai, Sr. Advocate. Chander Shekhar Ashri, Advocate. Mr. R.R.K. Kapoor, Advocate. Mr. B.R. Kapur, Advocate. Mr. Sumit Kumar, Advocate. Mr. S.K. Srivastava, Advocate. In WP 261 of 2001: In SLP 11763/2001 For Application in WP 242/2001: In-person Mr. F.S. Nariman, Sr. Advocate Mr. B.V. Deepak and Co., Advocates. Mr. Gulshan Bajwa, Advocate In WP 245/2001: Mr. Anil B. divan, Sr. Advocate. Mr. R. Mohan, Sr. Advocate. Mr. Dinesh Kumar Garg, Advocate. Mr. N.P. Midha, Advocate. Mr. B.S. Billowria, Advocate. Ms. Ritu Puri, Advocate. Mr. Manzoor Ali, Advocate. Mr. Anil B. Divan, Sr. Advocate. Mr. R.C. Kaushik, Advocate. Mr. D.K. Garg, Advocate. For Application in WP 246/2001: For Respondent(s) State of T.N. For Chief Minister Mr. V.R. Reddy, Sr. Advocate. Mr. M.A. Krishamoorthy, Advocate. Mr. P.P. Rao, Sr. Advocate. Mr. Revathy Raghavan, Advocate. Ms. Shwetha, Advocate. Mr. K.K. Venugopal, Sr. Advocate. Mr. K.V. Viswanathan, Advocate. Mr. Atul Kumar Sinha, Advocate. Mr. Kunwar Ajit Mohan Singh, Advocate. Mr. K.V. Venkataraman, Advocate. In WP 246/2001: In WP 251/2001: In person (N/P)