A petition has been filed in the Supreme Court on Tuesday challenging the restoration of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s Lok Sabha Membership.
Rahul Gandhi was disqualified after the court sentenced him to 2 years of imprisonment in the criminal defamation case over ‘Modi surname’ remark.
Gandhi was sentenced to 2 years imprisonment which disqualified him as an MP from Wayanad, Kerala under the rigours of the Representation of People Act.
Later, Supreme Court stayed his conviction and thereafter his Lok Sabha membership was restored.
Lucknow-based advocate Ashok Pandey moved the apex court seeking to quash the notification of Lok Sabha by which Gandhi’s membership was restored.
Pandey stated that once Gandhi lost his Lok Sabha membership, after being convicted in a criminal defamation case and was awarded 2 years of imprisonment, the Speaker of the Lok Sabha was not right in restoring back his lost membership.
However, the plea submitted that once a member of Parliament or of a state legislature loses his office by operation of Law in Article 102, 191 of the Constitution read with section 8 (3) of the Representation of People Act 1951, he will continue to be disqualified till he is acquitted from the charges levelled against him by the higher court.
The plea stated, “Rahul Gandhi lost his membership of Lok Sabha when he was convicted for defamation and was awarded two years sentence and as such the Speaker was not right in restoring his membership.”
Further, the petition submitted, “Speaker of Lok Sabha was right in declaring the loss of membership of Rahul Gandhi when he was convicted by the trial court and was awarded two years sentence but he was wrong when on the basis of an order passed by the Supreme Court staying the conviction, the order passed by him on January 13 was restored vide order impugned dated August 7.”
Previously, on July 7, the High Court affirmed the decision of a Gujarat Sessions court, which refused to put on hold a magisterial court order on March 23 convicting Gandhi and handing out the maximum punishment provided for criminal defamation under the IPC.
Rejecting Gandhi’s plea, the High Court stated that he has been seeking a stay on his conviction on “absolutely non-existent grounds” and a stay on conviction that is not a rule but an exception.
