Modi surname case: Supreme Court of India on Friday stayed the conviction of Rahul Gandhi in a 2019 defamation case over his Modi surname remark, restoring his status as a Member of Parliament (MP). Congress leader Rahul Gandhi can now freely contest polls after getting a huge relief in the Modi surname case by the SC today (August 4).
A three-judge bench of Justices BR Gavai, PS Narasimha and Sanjay Kumar said no doubt that the utterances were not in good taste and that a person in public life is expected to exercise caution while making public speeches.
"No reason has been given by the trial judge for imposing maximum sentence, the order of conviction needs to be stayed pending final adjudication," the bench said.
Can Rahul contest election now?
Congress leader can now contest polls freely. Rahul Gandhi's Wayanad seat from Kerala has remained vacant post his disqualification as Lok Sabha Member of Parliament in March 2023. Gandhi was disqualified following his conviction by a lower court in the 2019 Modi surname defamation case.
Gandhi had moved Gujarat High Court seeking a stay on his conviction, however, on Friday, the plea was dismissed by the court. On the back of the judgment, Gandhi has also been barred from running for election for six years after the end of the two-year jail term.
While the disqualified MP's chances of reinstatement as a member of the Lok Sabha now depend entirely on the Supreme Court conviction, nothing holds back the Election Commission from announcing a by-poll to the Wayanad Lok Sabha seat vacated by him even now.
Now, the Election Commission can announce a bypoll for the Wayanad Lok Sabha seat vacated by Rahul Gandhi.
As per the procedure, the vacant seats must be filled by the EC through bypolls within six months from the date of occurrence of the vacancy, provided that the remainder of the term of a member in relation to a vacancy is one year or more, as per Section 151A of the Representation of the People Act, 1951.
Rahul's membership in Parliament | Will it change or not?
Rahul Gandhi's membership of Parliament will now be fully restored after his conviction by SC.
Earlier, Wayanad MP Rahul Gandhi’s membership of Parliament was cancelled following his conviction and sentencing by a local court in Surat on Thursday. A notification issued by the Lok Sabha Secretariat prior said Rahul “stands disqualified from the membership of Lok Sabha from the date of his conviction i.e. 23 March, 2023 in terms of the provisions of Article 102(1)(e) of the Constitution of India read with Section 8 of the Representation of the People Act, 1951”. A copy of the notification was forwarded to “Shri Rahul Gandhi, Ex-MP”.
Know more about defamation case:
The top court was hearing a plea by Gandhi challenging the Gujarat High Court verdict which dismissed his plea seeking a stay on his conviction in a defamation case over his Modi surname remark.
Former Gujarat minister Purnesh Modi had filed a criminal defamation case in 2019 against Gandhi over his "How come all thieves have Modi as the common surname?" remark made during an election rally in Kolar in Karnataka on April 13, 2019
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