As soon as the Surat court verdict came out, legal experts made it clear that disqualification happens as soon as the sentence is announced. When the former General Secretary of Lok Sabha was asked PDT Achari, he also said the same thing. Since then, apprehensions were being expressed that the order could come from the Secretariat at any time. What next for Congress? Rahul Gandhi can appeal. Yes, if the conviction and sentence are stayed by the Supreme Court, the disqualification will also be suspended. It was clear from the former general secretary’s words yesterday that Rahul’s membership could no longer last.
The minister said, this was bound to happen
On the other hand, Union Minister of State for Law SP Baghel said that the country is governed by the Constitution, the law, particularly the Representation of the People Act of the Lok Sabha. A court in Surat sentenced him (Rahul Gandhi) to two years imprisonment and after two years imprisonment, under Section 8 of the Representation of the People Act, the membership goes with the sentence. Today the Lok Sabha Secretariat has issued an order in this regard. This did not happen to him alone. Azam Khan’s son was also punished and stripped of membership… so it was bound to happen. All people are equal before the law of the land.
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge has called the meeting today. The opposition has accused the government of not wanting a person who speaks the truth in the house but we are not going to be silent. Rahul has been punished for speaking the truth.
The Surat court has sentenced the Congress leader to two years in jail in the ‘Modi Surname’ defamation case registered in 2019. However, the court also granted bail to Gandhi and stayed the execution of his sentence for 30 days. Congress leaders were preparing to challenge the verdict disqualifying them from the Lok Sabha. Now Rahul’s bungalow will also be taken away and if he doesn’t get relief from the higher court, he will have to go to jail.
Rahul will not be able to contest elections for 6 years after the two-year sentence. Following the disqualification from Parliament, the 2013 Ordinance brought in by the Congress government to protect convicted MPs from immediate disqualification is under discussion. In a 2013 judgement, the Supreme Court struck down Section 8(4) of the Representation of the People Act, which said that if a member of the House is found guilty in a case punishable by imprisonment for more than two years and files an appeal within three months of the sentence, this means It happened that for such MPs only an appeal was not enough but a stay of conviction was also necessary. To reverse this, the Congress government brought in an ordinance to retain Article 8(4). Had it been an ordinance, Rahul could have survived today.
