``This could also lead to the unhappy situation of an individual lasting out his full term as a law maker, when the final decision may well declare him guilty of serious corrupt practices, and therefore, totally unworthy of being one,'' Gill said in a letter to Law Minister M Thambidurai last week.

Gill said that 50 petitions relating to Lok Sabha elections and 24 pertaining to Assembly polls this year were pending. Gill urged Thambidurai to address the matter urgently and find a way to dismiss such cases promptly.

The Chief Election Commissioioner said the Representation of People Act, 1951 provided for election petitions against malpractices and corrupt practices during the elections held in the highcourts. According to the act, every election petition should be tried as expeditiously as possible, and effort should be made to conclude the trial within six months from the date on which the petition is presented to the High Court. Gill said, ``It seems that in actual practice, election petitions are rarely disposed of within this limit.''

Of the 959 petitions relating to Lok Sabha and Assembly polls filed in high courts since 1990, 620 were disposed and 339 were pending. Of the 135 appeals filed since 1990 in the Supreme Court, 94 were disposed and 41 were pending.