Indian parliament disqualifies Rahul Gandhi after court finds him guilty in 2019 defamation case

The Indian parliament on Friday (March 24) disqualified opposition Congress leader Rahul Gandhi as a lawmaker after a court found him guilty of defamation and sentenced him to two years in prison, according to a parliament secretariat notice. "Consequent upon his conviction by the Court of Chief Judicial Magistrate, Surat in C.C./18712/2019, Shri Rahul Gandhi, Member of the Lok Sabha constituency representing the Wayanad Parliamentary Constituency of Kerala stands disqualified from the membership of Lok Sabha from the date of his conviction, i.e. March 23, 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," the notice issued by the Lok Sabha Secretariatread.

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On Thursday, the Surat court had sentenced Rahul Gandhi to two years imprisonment in the defamation case over his 'Modi surname' remark made in April 2019 during a Lok Sabha election rally in the state of Karnataka.

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"How come all the thieves have Modi as the common surname," Gandhi said during the rally. The criminal defamation case was filed against the Congress leader by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA from Surat West Purnesh Modi.

Following his disqualification, Gandhi will not be able to contest elections for eight years unless a higher court stays his conviction and sentence.

As per Section 8(3) of The Representation of the People Act, 1951, “A person convicted of any offence and sentenced to imprisonment for not less than two years shall be disqualified from the date of such conviction and shall continue to be disqualified for a further period of six years since his release.”

The disqualification can be reversed if a higher court grants a stay on the conviction or decides the appeal in favour of the convicted lawmaker.

And Article 102 (1) (e) of the constitution states that if he/she is so disqualified by or under any law made by Parliament Explanation For the purposes of this clause, a person shall not be deemed to hold an office of profit under the Government of India or the Government of any State by reason only that he/she is a minister either for the Union or for such state.

Reactions to Gandhi's disqualification

The Congress party on Friday reacted sharply to Gandhi's disqualification from parliament by saying it will fight this battle both legally and politically. "We will fight this battle both legally & politically. We will not be intimidated or silenced. Instead of a JPC into the PM-linked Adani MahaMegaScam, Rahul Gandhi stands disqualified. Indian Democracy Om Shanti," tweeted Jairam Ramesh, the Congress general secretary in charge of communications.

Senior Congress leader and MP Shashi Tharoor said that he was stunned by the action against Gandhi and by its rapidity. "This is politics with the gloves off and it bodes ill for our democracy," he tweeted.

Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge said that the party will hold a meeting at 5 pm to formulate a strategy as to how to proceed forward. "They (BJP) tried all ways to disqualify him. They don't want to keep those who are speaking the truth, but we will continue to speak the truth. We'll continue to demand JPC, if needed we'll go to jail to save democracy," Kharge said, the news agency ANI reported.

"The day Rahul Gandhi raised questions against Adani andPM, this type of conspiracy was started to silence him. It's a clear case of anti-democratic, dictatorship attitude of BJP govt," Congress MP KC Venugopal said.

The ruling BJP, meanwhile, has defended Gandhi's disqualification. Union Minister of State for Law and Justice S P S Baghel said that the disqualification was lawful and asserted that "everyone is equal before the law".

Speaking to the news agency ANI, BJP MP Vinod Sonkar said, "This is a court order, everyone should accept it. The court convicted him. The manner in which he insulted a community at the time of the elections...this has sent out a good message across the country."

"How can he (Rahul Gandhi) call the entire community "chor"? Freedom of speech does not mean defaming or insulting any community. He abused the OBC community, not criticised it. He is not even seeking an apology for his remarks. He also defamed the nation abroad," Union MinisterBhupender Yadav said.

(With inputs from agencies)

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