SC stay opens door to reinstate Rahul as Lok Sabha member
With the Supreme Court on Friday staying the conviction of Rahul Gandhi for two years in the Modi surname slur case, his political stock hit the stratosphere, giving his party bragging rights for claiming he would be the Congress’ PM face in 2024. The stay primarily opened the door for reviving his Lok Sabha membership until the case is finally disposed of, as it put his disqualification in abeyance. It restored his right to continue in public life and represent the Wayanad electorate in Parliament. A trial court in Gujarat sentenced him to jail for two years on March 23—the maximum sentence for defamation.
It resulted in Rahul’s disqualification from the Lower House under the Representation of the People’s Act (RPA). The SC bench pointed out, “Had the sentence been a day lesser, provisions would not have been attracted, particularly when an offence is non-cognisable, bailable and compoundable.” The trial court ought to have given some reasons to justify imposing the maximum sentence but didn’t, the SC said, adding neither the appellate court nor the high court considered it while rejecting appeals for staying the conviction. The only reason the trial court gave was the SC’s admonishment of Rahul for wrongly attributing to it his “chowkidar chor hai” remark against Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the Rafale case. Rahul had been hauled up for contempt in that case, but it was closed by the SC after he tendered an unconditional apology.
On the Modi slur, the SC observed that it was not in good taste, adding a person in public life is expected to exercise caution while making public speeches. Just the other day, the Gandhi scion had reiterated in his counter-affidavit in the SC that he would not apologise for the remark. He charged that using the RPA to arm-twist him into tendering an apology was a gross abuse of the judicial process.
Barely a day after Rahul’s conviction, the Lok Sabha secretariat announced his disqualification under the RPA. It must show equal urgency now in restoring his Lok Sabha membership based on the principle of natural justice. As the Congress pointed out, any delay would be contrary to the heart and soul of parliamentary democracy. Parliament’s doors should be gracefully opened to him instead of how NCP MP Mohammad Faizal’s revocation of disqualification took over 10 weeks.