Congress leader Rahul Gandhi Lok Sabha Membership is restored following recent supreme Court decision to stay his conviction in a 2019 defamation case related to his ‘Modi Surname’ remarks.
Gandhi was disqualified as a Lok Sabha member on March 23 after a Gujarat court convicted him in a defamation case and sentenced him to two years in jail. A punishment for two years and above automatically disqualifies a lawmaker.
An official statement regarding the restoration of Gandhi’s membership said, “In continuation of Notification No. 21/4(3)/2023/TO(B), dated the 24th March, 2023, the Supreme Court of India has passed an order on 04.08.2023 in Special Leave to Appeal (Crl.) No. 8644/2023, staying the conviction of Rahul Gandhi, Member of Lok Sabha representing the Wayanad Parliamentary Constituency of Kerala, which was ordered by the judgment dated23.03.2023 of the Court of the Chief Judicial Magistrate, Surat in C.C./ 18712/2019.”
“In view of order dated 04.08.2023 of the Supreme Court of India, the disqualification of Rahul Gandhi, notified vide Gazette Notification no. 21/4(3)/2023/TO(B) dated the 24th March, 2023 in terms of the provisions of Article 102(1)(e) of the Constitution of India read with Section 8 of the Representation of the People Act, 1951, has ceased to operate subject to further judicial pronouncements,” it added.
#WATCH | On restoration of Rahul Gandhi’s Lok Sabha membership, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi says, “Speaker took the decision today. We followed the legal process and immediately after receiving the Supreme Court’s order, we restored it…” pic.twitter.com/d1DtIODUoi
— ANI (@ANI) August 7, 2023
The Supreme Court on Friday stayed the conviction of Congress Leader Rahul Gandhi in the criminal defamation case against him over his ‘Modi surname’ remark, while maintaining that his remarks are not in good taste, especially for a person in public life.
Rahul Gandhi approached the Supreme Court challenging the Gujarat High Court’s order dismissing his application to stay the conviction in the criminal case. The conviction in the case led to his disqualification as a Member of Parliament.
BJP leader and former Gujarat minister Purnesh Modi had filed a criminal defamation case against Gandhi in 2019 over his “How come all thieves have Modi as the common surname?” remark made during an election rally in Kolar in Karnataka on April 13, 2019.
