A Day After Conviction In Defamation Case, Rahul Gandhi Disqualified As Lok Sabha MP
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has been disqualified from the Lok Sabha, the Lok Sabha Secretariat said on Friday.
Rahul Gandhi's disqualification is effective from March 23, the day of his conviction, the secretariat said in its notification.
Rahul Gandhi attended Lok Sabha hours before
Rahul Gandhi, who represented the Wayanad constituency in Kerala, was disqualified from Lok Sabha a day after a court in Surat, Gujarat, sentenced him to two years imprisonment in a defamation case.
On Friday, a day after the court order, Rahul Gandhi attended Lok Sabha briefly as the House was adjourned for an hour soon after it convened for the day.
Why is Rahul Gandhi disqualified?
He was convicted under IPC's Sections 499 and 500 in a 2019 criminal defamation case over his "Modi surname" remark. The maximum possible punishment under these sections is two years in jail.
The case was filed against Gandhi for his alleged "how come all the thieves have Modi as the common surname?" remark, which he made while addressing a rally at Kolar in Karnataka ahead of the?2019 Lok Sabha elections.
Following?Rahul Gandhi's conviction?by the Surat court on Thursday, Vineet Jindal, activist and Supreme Court lawyer, filed a complaint with Lok Sabha Speaker, seeking the disqualification of the Congress leader from the house.
Disqualification came as surprise?
According to a 2013 Supreme Court order, any MP or MLA stands disqualified from the time of his conviction if a sentence of two or more years is pronounced.
While he was sentenced to two years in jail, legal experts were of the opinion that Rahul Gandhi was not facing immediate disqualification, as the court had given him 30 days' bail and allowed him to file an appeal challenging the sentence.
Congress gears up for legal battle?
The Congress, which called the verdict "erroneous and unsustainable", had said it will challenge the order by the?court in Surat.
Reacting to the court order, Rahul Gandhi quoted Mahatma Gandhi and said that his religion was based on truth and non-violence. "Truth is my God, non-violence the means to get it- Mahatma Gandhi," he said in a tweet.
Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra said that her brother lived speaking the truth and would continue to speak the truth.
"The entire scared machinery of power is trying to suppress the voice of Rahul Gandhi through 'saam, daam, dand, bhed'. My brother has never been afraid, nor will he ever be. He has lived speaking the truth, will continue to speak the truth", tweeted Priyanka Gandhi.
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