A day after Congress MP (Wayanad) Rahul Gandhi was disqualified from the Lok Sabha following his conviction in a criminal defamation case, a petition has now been filed before the Supreme Court seeking such automatic disqualifications of elected representatives as ‘illegal.’
According to the legal website, Bar and Bench, the petitioner has challenged the constitutional validity of Section 8(3) of the Representatives of People’s Act, 1951.
The legislation, in question, clearly states, “A person convicted of any offence and sentenced to imprisonment for not less than two years…shall be disqualified from the date of such conviction and shall continue to be disqualified for a further period of six years since his release.”
The petition read:
“That the Petitioner herein is a Ph.D. Scholar and is a Social Activist having worked with organizations in the area of education, rights of young people and public health, who seeks to challenge the automatic disqualification of People’s representatives of elected legislative bodies, upon being convicted of any offence and sentenced to imprisonment for not less than two years as per Chapter III, S. 8 (3) of the Representatives of the People Act, 1951 (hereinafter referred to as “the 1951 Act”), and declare the same as ultra vires of the Constitution of India, 1950 since the same is in stark contradiction to sub- section (1) of the Section 8, Section 8A, 9, 9A, 10 and 10A and 11 of the 1951 Act, thereby restrains the members from freely discharging their duties casted upon them by the voter’s of their respective constituency, which is against the principles of democracy.“
The Background of the Case
On Thursday (March 23), Rahul Gandhi was convicted and sentenced to two years in jail by the court of Chief Judicial Magistrate in Surat for his defamatory comments against people with the ‘Modi surname’ in a speech in 2019.
A criminal defamation case was filed by Gujarat BJP leader Purnesh Modi after Rahul Gandhi in an election rally had asked why everyone with the Modi surname is a thief, mentioning Nirav Modi, Lalit Modi and Narendra Modi.
Apart from the current disqualification, Rahul Gandhi will also not be able to contest the next general election, and also perhaps the 2029 elections, if the conviction is not overturned by a higher court. According to the law, the disqualification will continue for six years after release from jail.