In a massive relief to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, the Supreme Court on Friday stayed his conviction in a 2019 defamation case over his Modi surname remark, clearing the way for the revival of his Lok Sabha membership. After the top court's verdict, the Congress top brass has been demanding to restore Gandhi's membership of the Lok Sabha. Echoing the demand, senior Congress leader P Chidambaram said Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla should immediately restore Gandhi's membership of the Lower House of Parliament.
"The Supreme Court's order today is a vindication of the argument that we have consistently pressed before every court -- from the trial court to the Supreme Court. The Hon'ble Speaker of the Lok Sabha should immediately restore Mr Rahul Gandhi's membership of the Lok Sabha (sic)," Chidambaram wrote on X (formerly Twitter). After the Supreme Court's verdict, Congress leader in Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury also met Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla to urge him to restore Gandhi's membership at the earliest.
Process to restore Rahul Gandhi's membership
Following the Supreme Court's order, Rahul Gandhi's membership in Parliament will now be fully restored. The procedure says that Gandhi or his representative will have to show the Lok Sabha Secretariat a copy of the Supreme Court order staying his conviction to begin the process of reversal of his disqualification as a lawmaker. Once the secretariat gets the order, it would initiate the process to issue a notification revoking his disqualification. The Lok Sabha speaker can now revive his membership on his own or Gandhi can seek restoration of his status as an MP.
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Rahul Gandhi was disqualified as an MP
It should be mentioned here that a court in Gujarat's Surat had sentenced Congress leader Gandhi to two years in jail in a 2019 criminal defamation case filed against him over his "Modi surname" remarks. After being convicted in the case, Gandhi was disqualified as a Lok Sabha member on March 23. He represented Kerala's Wayanad in the Lower House of Parliament. A case was filed against Gandhi for his alleged “How come all the thieves have Modi as the common surname?” The case was filed by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA Purnesh Modi under sections 499 and 500 (defamation) of the Indian Penal Code.
(With PTI inputs)
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