With the Supreme Court, on Friday, August 4, staying the conviction and sentence of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi in the ‘Modi surname’ defamation case, the Wayanad Lok Sabha constituency in Kerala is soon to get their Member of Parliament back. If no other adverse developments happen, this also means that Rahul Gandhi will be able to contest the 2024 General elections. The question however is how long it will take for the Lok Sabha secretariat to restore Rahul’s Parliament membership and whether or not he will be able to take part in the crucial debate on the no-confidence motion against the Union Government, which is scheduled to begin on August 7.
Rahul Gandhi was convicted by a Surat court in the criminal defamation case in March this year and was sentenced to two-year imprisonment, which led to his disqualification as a Member of Parliament. The Congress leader, in a speech ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, had said, "Nirav Modi, Lalit Modi, Narendra Modi. How come all the thieves have 'Modi' as a common surname?" Former BJP MLA Purnesh Modi filed a criminal defamation case stating that Rahul had defamed all those with the Modi surname.
As far as his reinstatement in the Parliament is concerned, constitutional experts say that Rahul Gandhi will have to make a submission to the Lok Sabha secretariat stating that the apex court has stayed his conviction and that he should be reinstated as Member of Parliament.
“The Lok Sabha secretariat will then issue a notification about his reinstatement. This was what happened in the case of Lakshadweep MP Mohammad Faisal as well,” says Chakshu Roy, Head of legislative and civic engagement initiatives at PRS Legislative Research.
However, in the case of Mohammad Faisal, who was suspended from the Parliament, in an attempt-to-murder case, it took more than two months after the Kerala High Court’s order staying his conviction, for the Lok Sabha secretariat to reinstate him into the Parliament.
Meanwhile, the Congress, within an hour after the SC stayed Rahul Gandhi’s conviction, met with Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla to initiate the process for Rahul Gandhi’s restoration.