New Delhi, March 24 (The Hindu): Congress party leader and member of the Indian parliament from Wayanad in Kerala, Rahul Gandhi, has been disqualified from the Lok Sabha (Lower House of the Indian parliament), a day after a sessions court in Surat in Gujaratat, sentenced him in a criminal defamation case.
A notification from the Lower House, signed by Secretary General Utpal Kumar Singh, said that Mr. Gandhi stands disqualified from the membership of the Lok Sabha from the date of his conviction, as per the terms of Article 102 (1)(e) of the Constitution and Section 8 of the Representation of the People Act, 1951.
Mr. Gandhi was sentenced to two years imprisonment for his “why all thieves have Modi surname” comment he allegedly made during the parliamentary election campaign in 2019.
The court however suspended the sentence for 30 days, so that Mr. Gandhi may appeal in a higher court. The court has given bail to him on ₹10,000 bond.
According to the Section 8(3) of the Representation of the People (RP) Act, 1951, which guides the disqualification of a legislator, the moment a Member of Parliament is convicted of any offence and sentenced for at least two years, she or he attracts disqualification.
Experts though have differing views on whether the conviction and sentencing means immediate disqualification or the Wayanad MP gets time if he appeals.
Mr. Gandhi is the second MP to be disqualified in the recent times.
Reacting to Mr. Gandhi’s disqualification, Congress leader and Thiruvananthapuram MP Shashi Tharoor said he was stunned by the rapid action.
“I’m stunned by this action and by its rapidity, within 24 hours of the court verdict and while an appeal was known to be in process. This is politics with the gloves off and it bodes ill for our democracy,” he tweeted.
END
