Rahul to return as MP as SC stays conviction

The Supreme Court on Friday stayed Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s conviction in a criminal defamation case on the grounds that the trial judge failed to explain why he deserved the maximum two-year punishment under the law, and held that the continuation of his disqualification from Parliament would deprive proper representation to the people of his constituency .

- Utkarsh Anand

 

The decision paves the way for the revival of Gandhi’s status as an MP after being ineligible for 134 days, and means that he could participate in the no-confidence motion debate against the Narendra Modi government’s council of ministers in the Lower House next week.

Addressing a press briefing after the court’s stay, Gandhi said the “truth always triumphs”.

“My path is clear. I have clarity in my mind on what I have to do and what my work is. I thank the people who helped us. I also thank the people for their love and support,” he said.

Gandhi was elected to the Lok Sabha from Kerala’s Wayanad in 2019. He was convicted on March 23, 2023 by a Surat trial court, which awarded him a maximum two-year-jail term in a case relating to his comments on the “Modi” surname at a poll rally. The sentence meant that the Lok Sabha secretariat declared his disqualification on March 24. Gandhi’s appeal in the Gujarat high court was rejected on July 7.

Even as a bench of justices BR Gavai and PS Narasimha said that Gandhi ought to have been “more careful” in making remarks in the wake of his public standing, it stressed that he stood disqualified as an MP under the Representation of People Act (RPA) only because of the two-year-jail term, and that even a day less would have saved his membership.

Therefore, the court held, it was imperative for the Sural trial court to specify the reasons for handing him out the maximum punishment under the charge of defamation in March this year, when the offence has clearly been categorised as bailable, non-cognisable, and compoundable in the Indian Penal Code.