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Updated March 23rd, 2023 at 17:49 IST

Will Rahul Gandhi lose Lok Sabha membership after conviction in 'Modi surname' case?

Since Rahul Gandhi was convicted and sentenced to two years in jail, will the Surat court ruling lead to disqualification of the Lok Sabha MP?

Reported by: Ajay Sharma
Rahul Gandhi guilty
Image: PTI | Image:self
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Rahul Gandhi was found guilty in a criminal defamation case by a district court in Gujarat over his 'Modi surname' remarks in Karnataka's Kolar in the run up to the Lok Sabha elections. After finding the Gandhi scion guilty, the Court of Chief Judicial Magistrate HH Varma sentenced the Congress leader to two years imprisonment and imposed a fine of Rs 15,000. However, Gandhi obtained bail in the case. 

Since Rahul is convicted by the court and sentenced to two-year imprisonment, does the Surat court ruling attracts his disqualification as Lok Sabha MP? Let's look into the Representation of the People Act, of 1951 which deals with the election of both Houses of Parliament and the disqualifications for membership of those Houses including a conviction for certain crimes.

Does the Surat Court's order on Rahul attract disqualification from Lok Sabha?

Technically speaking, the two-year imprisonment ruling for Rahul Gandhi attracts disqualification from Lok Sabha under Section 8(3) of the Representation of the People Act, 1951, unless a higher court stays the sentencing.

According to Section 8(3) of the Representation of the People Act, 1951, a person convicted of any offence and sentenced to imprisonment for not less than two years [other than any offence referred to in subsection (1) or sub-section (2)] shall be disqualified from the date of such conviction and shall continue to be disqualified for a further period of six years from his release.

The act also states that in the case of a person who, as of the date of the conviction, is a Member of Parliament or the Legislature of a State, a disqualification under either sub-section shall not take effect until three months have passed since the date of the conviction or if within that time, an appeal or application for review is brought in relation to the conviction or the sentence until that appeal or application is decided by the court. 

Supreme Court's historic judgement of 10 July 2013

The Supreme Court of India ruled in Lily Thomas v. Union of India on July 10, 2013, that "any MP, MLA, or MLC who is convicted of a crime and given a minimum of 2 years' jail, loses membership in the House with immediate effect."

The Supreme Court of India's ruling from July 10, 2013, overturned the precedent that allowed guilty MPs, MLAs, and MLCs to hold onto their seats until they had used every legal recourse available to them in the lower, state, and Supreme Court of India. Section 8(4) of the Representation of the People Act, which gave elected officials three months to appeal their conviction, was declared "unconstitutional" by the apex court.

However, the then-UPA government, in an attempt to overturn this decision, brought an ordinance that Gandhi said should be torn away in a press conference, calling it "nonsense". The ordinance was then withdrawn by the government.

It is pertinent to mention that SP MLA Azam Khan was immediately disqualified from Uttar Pradesh Assembly after a trial court convicted him to 2 years in prison in a criminal case. However, Rahul will not be "immediately" disqualified as his sentence has been suspended by the Surat court to enable him to move an appeal against his conviction within 30 days.

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Published March 23rd, 2023 at 15:55 IST

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