Brit MPs accused in expenses scandal to face Election Day in court - India News and Travel Times Provides India-centric and other News and Features

Three British MPs accused in the expenses scandal look set to spend election day in court. According to reports, a crucial three-day hearing to decide if the politicians can be put on trial has been fixed to last from May 4 to May 6 - the expected date of the General Election. The three Labour MPs, David Chaytor, Elliot Morley and Jim Devine, are charged with theft by false accounting and multiple offences under the Theft Act 1968, relating to more than 60,000 pounds of taxpayers' money. They face a maximum sentence of seven years' imprisonment if they are tried and convicted. Meanwhile, lawyers representing the three will argue at a preliminary hearing that their expenses claims are protected by parliamentary privilege, and that the courts have no jurisdiction to try them, The Daily Express reports. They claim they are protected by the Bill of Rights of 1689, and can only be judged by their peers in the House of Commons. The Labour Party has banned all three men from standing in the general election. It was also disclosed that the three MPs and the Labour peer Lord Hanningfield, who is charged with making false allowance claims, will all be tried separately if the High Court rules against their application to have their cases thrown out.