Rahul Gandhi being disqualified as a Member of Lok Sabha from the date of his conviction in the criminal defamation case over his remark on ‘Modi surname’. The Lok Sabha Secretariat issued the notification in this regard. Congress party leader Rahul Gandhi being an MP from Kerala’s Wayanad district.
The disqualification is made in terms of Article 102 (1) (e) of the Constitution of India reading with Section 8 of the Representation of the People Act 1951. Therefore, it has been provided under the 1951 Act that a person will be disqualified if the person is convicted and sentenced to imprisonment for two years or more and shall continue to be disqualified for a further period of six years after his release.
However, the disqualification made can be reversed in case a higher court, in an appeal wherein granting stay on the conviction of the person concerned or it goes on to decide the appeal which is moved against the conviction in favor of the concerned person.
However, the Gujarat’s Surat District convicted the Congress leader and MP Rahul Gandhi in a defamation case for the remarks made by him, why all thieves share the Modi surname, being made during the political campaign in Karol in April 2019.
Further, the Court of Chief Judicial Magistrate HH Varma sentenced Rahul Gandhi to two years in jail and the court also imposed a fine of Rs. 15,000 after finding Rahul Gandhi guilty under section 499 (Defamation), section 500 (punishment for Defamation) Indian Penal Code, 1860. The court in the case observed and has suspended the Rahul Gandhi sentence and granted him bail in the case to move an appeal within 30 days, the conviction of Rahul Gandhi was not suspended, which being necessary for a stay on the disqualification.
Therefore, the order came on a complaint made by BJP MLA and former Gujarat minister Purnesh Modi Purnesh Modi which is filed under Sections 499 and 500 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 which being against the Rahul Gandhi for his alleged remarks wherein stating claiming that he had defamed all people with the ‘Modi’ surname while addressing a rally at Kolar in Karnataka ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.