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Updated March 24th, 2023 at 16:46 IST

Rahul Gandhi's legal team advises him not to attend Parliament after conviction: Sources

Rahul Gandhi was found guilty in a 2019 Modi surname case and was sentenced to two years of imprisonment with a penalty of Rs 15,000 fine by a Surat court.

Reported by: Harsh Vardhan
Rahul Gandhi
Rahul Gandhi will not be imprisoned yet as he received a bail to appeal against the conviction at a higher court within 30 days; Image: | Image:self
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Rahul Gandhi might not get to speak in parliament after all as he has been advised against visiting the Houses over fears of his disqualification. According to sources, the Congress MP's legal team has advised him not to attend Parliamentary sessions anymore as he could get disqualified after getting convicted in the Modi surname case from 2019. On March 23, the Surat District Court convicted Rahul for the defamation case and sentenced him to two years of imprisonment with a penalty Rs 15,000 by Court of Chief Judicial Magistrate HH Varma. He, however, will not be imprisoned yet as he was granted bail and has been allowed to appeal against the conviction at a higher court within 30 days. 

What is the Modi surname case?

The case dates back to 2019 when during his Lok Sabha election campaign speech in Karnataka's Kolar, Rahul said that all thieves have a common surname-- Modi. He was referring to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and fugitive Nirav Modi who cheated Punjab National Bank (PNB) of Rs 14,000 crore and fled to the UK in 2018. Angered by his comments, former Gujarat minister Purnesh Modi lodged a complaint under Section 499 (defamation) and 500 (Punishment for defamation) of the IPC as the Congress MP allegedly insulted the entire Modi community. 

Could Rahul Gandhi be disqualified for his conviction?

According to the Section 8(3) of the Representation of the People Act, 1951, Rahul can lose his Lok Sabha membership since he has been found guilty in the cases filed against him. The said section states that 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 law, however, also states that an MP or MLA cannot be disqualified until three months after his conviction or if an appeal or application is brought forth and decided by a court. The way forward for Rahul Gandhi does not seem pleasant as a Supreme Court advocate Vineet Jindal already wrote to Lok Sabha speaker Om Birla to disqualify the Congress leader for his conviction. Jindal cited that same Representation of the People Act, saying the Gujarat District Court's decision is enough of a reason.  

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Published March 24th, 2023 at 00:08 IST

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