Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has been disqualified as the Member of Parliament (MP) representing Wayanad. The Lok Sabha secretariat made the announcement on Friday, March 24, a day after a Gujarat court found Rahul Gandhi guilty in a criminal defamation case. Rahul’s disqualification is “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’s Act,1951,” the document stated.
The Surat district court, on Thursday, held Rahul guilty under Indian Penal Code sections 499 (defamation) and 500 (criminal defamation), under which the maximum possible punishment is two years. He was also granted bail on the same day, and the sentence was suspended for 30 days to allow him to appeal in a higher court. During his campaign for Lok Sabha elections in Karnataka’s Kolar in 2019, Rahul had said, “how come all the thieves have Modi as a common surname." The complaint was filed by BJP legislator in Gujarat, Purnesh Modi.
However, experts said that Rahul will not be immediately disqualified as an MP for up to 30 days as his sentence has been suspended to allow him to file an appeal in a higher court, based on two things: The Representation of the People Act of 1951 and a 2013 judgement by the Supreme Court titled Lily Thomas Vs Union of India and Others. Constitutional expert Subhash C Kashyap had earlier told TNM that the implementation of the punishment awarded to Rahul Gandhi has been suspended for 30 days, which gives him time to appeal in a higher court. “This also means that he will not be disqualified immediately. His sentence was suspended and he also got bail. He will have to go to higher courts and appeal the judgement as a whole,” he said.