Rahul Gandhi was not saved, the post of MP was dismissed

• March 24, 2023

A notification issued by the Lok Sabha Secretariat on Friday informed that Rahul Gandhi's MP post has been dismissed as per the amended Representation of the People Act. Many legal experts said on Thursday that since the Surat court had granted bail to Rahul and suspended the jail sentence for 30 days, the MP would not go. But then as time went on more and more legal explanations started coming.Kapil Sibal to Mahesh Jethmalani said on Thursday, there is no way Rahul can have the MP post. 

While campaigning for the Karnataka elections in 2019, Rahul Gandhi commented, 'It is seen that those who are doing corruption are called Modi. Lalit Modi looted the IPL. Nirav Modi looted money and ran away. And the one who helped him escape is also a Modi. Both are from the same state.'

After that, a former BJP MLA from Gujarat, the current MP filed a case in Surat court. His surname is also Modi. He told the court that Rahul Gandhi insulted Modi's name. The court of Surat gave the final judgment of that case. Rahul was physically present in Surat court on Thursday. After the conviction, before sentencing, the judge asked Rahul, "Do you have anything to say?" Do you regret it? In response, Rahul said, "I spoke about politics from the stage of politics. There is no question of repentance here.'' The petitioner's lawyers then pleaded that Rahul Gandhi was showing a single-minded attitude. He should be given maximum punishment. The judge sentenced Rahul to two years in prison. Rahul countered that he will challenge the order in the higher court. Since the sentence was less than three years imprisonment, the Surat court granted bail to Rahul. Ordered him, this sentence of imprisonment is temporarily suspended for 30 days. Rahul has to file a petition in the higher court during this period. Then Rahul left the court.

Section 8 (4) of the Representation of the People Act, 1952 stated that if an MP or MLA is sentenced to imprisonment of two years or more in a lower court, his office as MP or MLA shall not be immediately dismissed. He can appeal to the High Court.

It went on like this for 60 years. But after 61 years in October 2013, the Supreme Court gave a landmark verdict. A bench of Justice AK Patnaik and Justice SJ Mukherjee held that Section 8 (4) of the Representation of the People Act is unconstitutional. Any court that sentences any MP or MLA to imprisonment for two years or more shall immediately be dismissed as MP or MLA.

Such an example happened recently. An Allahabad court sentenced Uttar Pradesh Samajwadi Party MLA Azam Khan to three years in jail in a 2019 hate speech case. According to the amended law of 2013, Azam Khan's MLA post has also been dismissed. Lalu Prasad Yadav had to go to jail four times. Not only going to jail, the accused cannot be a candidate for another six years after serving the sentence.

Share on Social Media