New Delhi: Rahul Gandhi, who represents the Wayanad parliamentary seat in Kerala, was on Friday disqualified from the Lok Sabha by a Surat court in the wake of his conviction in a defamation case in 2019. The order regarding his disqualification issued by the Lok Sabha Secretariat will be effective from March 23, the notification said.
The notification states that he (Rahul Gandhi) has been disqualified under Article 102(1) of the Constitution and Section 8 of the Representation of the People Act, 1951. It states that, “Rahul Gandhi, representing the Wayanad parliamentary seat in Kerala, is disqualified with effect from March 23, 2023, in view of his conviction in a defamation case by a Surat court.”
Notably, a Surat court on Thursday sentenced Congress leader Rahul Gandhi to two years in jail in a criminal defamation case filed over his remarks on Modi’s surname in 2019. The court, however, granted bail to Gandhi and stayed his sentence for 30 days, so that the Congress leader could challenge the verdict. Reacting to Rahul Gandhi’s disqualification, the Congress party said it will fight the legal and political battle and will continue to demand formation of a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) on the Adani megascam without remaining silent.
Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge told reporters that a meeting of senior leaders has been called at the Congress headquarters at five o’clock today, in which the strategy to take this fight forward will be decided. He also said that all this was done so that Rahul Gandhi could not raise questions in Parliament, but Rahul and Congressmen should not remain silent. Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh tweeted, “We will fight this battle legally and politically.”
We will not be bullied and we will not be silenced. Instead of forming the JPC in the Adani scam involving the Prime Minister, Rahul Gandhi was disqualified. Indian Democracy Om Shanti. At the same time, Minister of State for Law and Justice SP Singh Baghel while giving importance to the decision said that all are equal before the law. He said that recently a BJP MLA from Uttar Pradesh was also disqualified after being convicted in a criminal case.
