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Rajya Sabha rejects resolution seeking funds for madrasas in the name of modernisation; ‘Can’t divide people by religion’, says minister Smriti Irani

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Rajya Sabha rejects resolution seeking funds for madrasas in the name of modernisation; ‘Can’t divide people by religion’, says minister Smriti Irani

On Friday, 24th March 2023, Rajya Sabha struck down a resolution seeking funds for madrasas in the name of modernisation. The resolution sought funds for modernising madrasas in view of the social and educational backwardness of Muslims, particularly women. Abdul Wahab, an MP of the Indian Union Muslim League, presented the motion in the Upper House of Parliament on February 10.

Demands raised in the resolution

The resolution intended to put into practice the Sachar Committee’s and other reports’ recommendations on the socio-economic and educational underachievement of Muslims. It intended to boost the involvement of Muslims in higher education by reinstating and enhancing all those scholarship and educational upliftment programs. Through a dedicated infrastructure fund, it sought to support madrasas in modernising. It also aimed to create and put into practice certain affirmative actions for Muslim women in order to increase their engagement at work and presence in important national institutions and central universities.

Additionally, it demanded the establishment of a commission to investigate the representation of Muslims in universities and in private and public employment, as well as the creation of laws to prohibit atrocities against the nation’s minorities in order to give more confidence to Muslims who, according to the resolution, are vulnerable.

This resolution was rejected by the house

Presenting her view on the resolution, the Union Minister for Women and Child Development and Minority Affairs Smriti Irani said, “For me, this resolution which casts aspersions of inequality, in fact, reduces it to a slur on the basis of religion. I hope that this house unanimously rejects it.” In the midst of a walkout by Congress and other opposition parties, the motion was dismissed by voice vote.

Smriti Irani asserted, “A new India cannot be broken down on the basis of religion. That is why I would request the entire house to unanimously reject this resolution so that we, who are building the new India under the prime minister’s leadership with the support of citizens, can build it on issues of inclusion, equity, and equality.”

Smriti Irani underlined that the resolution claims that Muslim women are not allowed equal access to education. On the resolution’s suggested infrastructure fund for gender inclusion, Irani stated that the new education policy addresses the needs of both children and women in terms of education. “India now has a new education policy after thirty years. The requirement for skill development for a new India is met by the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship”, she said.

Smriti Irani further said, “The resolution seeks to cast aspersions on citizens and the Constitution alike. Through this resolution, aspersions have been cast on one of the holiest of books that our nation at large seeks to divide people on the basis of religion and deny access to a better life in the present and in the future to those who belong to minority communities.”

Ajay Pratap Singh, a BJP lawmaker, opposed the motion and claimed that the Sachar Committee’s very formation was being questioned in the Supreme Court. He said that it is not justifiable to put into practice the recommendations of a committee whose legitimacy is seriously questioned.

Mamata Banerjee will campaign for JDS in upcoming Karnataka elections, says HD Kumaraswamy after meeting her in Kolkata

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Mamata Banerjee will campaign for JDS in upcoming Karnataka elections, says HD Kumaraswamy after meeting her in Kolkata

On Friday, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee received a visit from Janata Dal – Secular (JDS) leader and former Karnataka Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy in Kolkata. They met to talk about the upcoming Karnataka Assembly elections, and the developments in national politics.

The discussion was held at the All India Trinamool Congress (TMC) chief’s Kalighat residence. The Bengal CM also assured the ex-JDS president that she will campaign for his party in the 2023 state assembly elections.

The meeting between the two took place amid efforts by leaders of several opposition parties to form a cohesive opposition alliance in order to challenge the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) at the centre in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

Mamata’s meeting with Kumaraswamy occurred one day after the CM met with her colleague from Odisha, Naveen Patnaik, in Bhubaneswar on Thursday. According to her party, she reiterated the necessity of bolstering India’s federal framework and ensuring accountability at all levels of government during her meeting with the Odisha CM.

Mamata Banerjee’s stand against ‘outsiders’ in Bengal

Notably, TMC continuously described the BJP as ‘a party of outsiders’ as a strategy in the 2021 West Bengal assembly elections.

Referring to the Union Home Minister Amit Shah as an ‘outsider,’ she claimed, “There is no place for outsiders in Bengal. Those who have made Bengal their home out of love are our friends. They are our people. But those who come just before elections to foment communal trouble are nothing but outsiders.”

She went further and alleged her party consider only those ‘pan masala-chewing, tilak-sporting’ people sent from states like Uttar Pradesh ‘to foment trouble’ before elections in West Bengal as outsider goons.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi slammed her remarks and said branding BJP leaders as ‘outsiders’ is an insult to the inclusive ideology of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose and the principles of the Indian Constitution.

She once more alluded to the BJP as an ‘outsider party’ in Goa in 2019. She even invoked her caste card and called herself a ‘Brahmin.’ She urged people to vote against BJP in the state elections and added that she does not want ‘outsiders to control Goa.’

She even accused the doctors of being ‘outsiders’ in 2019 when doctors across the state shut down services in a show of protest after doctors and interns at the NRS Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata were attacked following the death of Mohammed Sayeed.

Tejashwi Yadav appears before CBI for questioning in land-for-jobs scam case, claims he has always cooperated with the agencies

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Tejashwi Yadav appears before CBI for questioning in land-for-jobs scam case, claims he has always cooperated with the agencies

On Saturday, Tejashwi Yadav, the Deputy Chief Minister of Bihar, appeared before the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in connection with the alleged land-for-jobs scam. Yadav appeared for interrogation at the CBI office in Delhi after he skipped appearing on the previous three dates.

According to the reports, the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader was brought to the investigation team after completing the required formalities upon his arrival at the CBI headquarters at approximately 10.30 am. Last Monday, the CBI assured the Delhi High Court that Yadav would not be detained this month.

Yadav before appearing at the CBI headquarters said that he and his party have been cooperating with the agencies. “We have always cooperated with the agencies but the situation in the country is that it has become very difficult to fight but we have decided to fight against this and we will win,” he said.

The RJD leader’s attorney Maninder Singh commented on the matter and said that Yadav had informed the federal agency that he would need some time to appear before the investigators as the current Bihar Assembly session is slated to end on April 5.

Moreover, Singh had informed the court that Yadav will appear before the investigating officer on March 25 at 10.30 am at the CBI headquarters in Delhi. CBI’s counsel DP Singh then had said that the Assembly is not convened on Saturdays and Yadav could appear for interrogation on any Saturday in March.

The summonses issued against him on February 28, March 4, and March 11 were also challenged by the RJD leader. In the land-for-jobs “scam” case, a special CBI court granted bail to Yadav’s mother Rabri Devi, father Lalu Prasad, sister Misa Bharti, and others on March 15.

Yadav had refused to appear before CBI claiming that his wife was hospitalized due to ED raids

Earlier on March 11, Yadav had refused to appear before the CBI claiming that his pregnant wife had to be hospitalized following the ED raids. He said his wife fainted due to BP problems after twelve hours of ED interrogation at his residence.

The summons reportedly was issued to Tejasvi Yadav after the ED raided 15 places of Lalu Yadav’s close associates in Delhi, Mumbai, Noida, and Patna on Friday. These include Tejashwi Yadav’s house in Delhi and the residences of Lalu’s three daughters Hema, Ragini, and Chanda. Apart from these, the Ghaziabad residence of Lalu’s brother-in-law Jitendra Yadav was also raided. The ED, during the raids, seized Rs 53 lakh, US$ 1,900, 540 grams of gold, and 1.5 kg of gold jewellery.

Previously, as part of a money laundering investigation into a purported “land-for-jobs” case, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) searched 24 places, including Yadav’s Delhi home, other locations in the national capital area, Patna, Ranchi, and Mumbai.

Land for Jobs scam

The CBI in the first chargesheet filed in connection with the alleged land-for-job scam stated that irregular appointments of candidates were made in Central Railway, violating the laid down norms and procedures of Indian Railways for recruitment.

As a quid-pro-quo, the candidates directly or through their immediate relatives/family members, sold land to the family members of Lalu Prasad Yadav (then Union Railway Minister) at highly discounted rates up to 1/4th to 1/5th of the prevailing market rates, stated CBI.

The investigations revealed that Lalu Prasad Yadav during the period 2007-08, when he was Union Minister of Railways, with the intent to acquire the land parcels situated in Vill- Mahuabagh, Patna and Vill-Kunjwa, Patna which were situated adjacent to the land parcels already owned by his family members; entered into a criminal conspiracy with his wife Rabri Devi, daughter Misha Bharati, Officers of Central Railways namely Sowmya Raghvan the then General Manager, Kamal Deep Mainrai, the then Chief Personnel Officer, and residents of Vill-Mahjabagh, Patna and Vill-Bindaul, Bihta, Patna and Patna City namely Raj Kumar Singh, Mithlesh Kumar, Ajay Kumar, Sanjay Kumar, Dharmendra Kumar, Vikas Kumar, Abhishek Kumar, Ravindra Ray, Kiran Devi, Akhileshwar Singh, Ramashish Singh.

According to the CBI, all the candidates after their engagement as substitutes were subsequently regularized.

In lieu of getting them appointed in Railways, Lalu Prasad Yadav got the lands transferred owned by candidates and their family members in the names of his wife Rabri Devi and Misha Bharti for sale consideration which was much lesser than the prevailing circle rates as well as the prevailing market rates.

The Hindu journalist lies about conviction of BJP’s Babu Bokhiria to insinuate Rahul Gandhi became a ‘victim’ of vendetta politics, here is the truth

OpIndia Staff
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The Hindu journalist lies about conviction of BJP’s Babu Bokhiria to insinuate Rahul Gandhi became a ‘victim’ of vendetta politics, here is the truth

On March 24, India’s Parliament disqualified senior Congress leader and Wayanad MP Rahul Gandhi from the Lok Sabha. The decision came after Surat Court convicted the Gandhi scion and sentenced him to two years in a 2019 criminal defamation case. Since his disqualification, the dynasty-run party’s members and sycophants have been practically crying hoarse and spreading all sorts of misinformation to insinuate that Rahul Gandhi has become a victim of BJP’s vendetta politics. One such person joining the bandwagon on Friday was Mahesh Langa, a ‘journalist’ with The Hindu.

Langa took to Twitter on March 24, hours after the news of Rahul Gandhi’s disqualification became public, to invoke a decade-old conviction case of Gujarat BJP minister Babu Bokhiria and lie blatantly about it to portray the Gandhi dynast as a victim. Nevertheless, he was fact-checked as soon as he posted the lies.

Sharing a hashtag in support of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, Mahesh Langa tweeted, “In 2013, Gujarat Cabinet minister Babu Bokhiria was convicted for two years in a mineral theft case. He was not disqualified and did not even resign from cabinet. After two weeks, his appeal for staying the conviction was granted. #RahulGandhi.”

To Langa’s dismay, Akhilesh Mishra, the CEO of BlueKraft and the digital director of MyGov, the government’s citizen interaction portal, fact-checked The Hindu journalist by citing facts that are easily accessible on several public platforms.

Mishra quickly reminded the so-called journalist that BJP leader Babu Bokhiria was convicted on June 15, 2013. Section 8 (4) of the Representation of the People Act was in effect at the time, which said that if a convicted lawmaker appeals the conviction at a higher court within 3 months of the conviction, there is no need to resign. Therefore, there was no need to resign for Babu Bokhiria as he had appealed the judgement within 3 months. The Supreme Court of India struct down section 8(4) of the RPA on July 10, 2013, after which disqualification has been automatic.

“Babu Bokaria was convicted on June 15, 2013. At this time, Sec 8 (4) of RPA applied and thus there was NO requirement to resign. The Supreme Court verdict, now the law of the land, came on 10th July 2013. Since then disqualification is automatic,” Akhilesh Mishra tweeted.

As rightly pointed out by Mishra, the Supreme Court of India passed a landmark judgment on 10 July 2013 in which it struck down Section 8(4) of the Representations of Peoples Act, 1950 as unconstitutional. This judgement was delivered in the case of Lily Thomas vs Union Of India & Ors ((2013) 7 SCC 653) which was presided over by Justice A.K. Patnaik, Justice Sudhansu Jyoti Mukhopadhaya.

The Supreme Court had delivered the judgement in response to two PILs filed by Supreme Court lawyer Lily Thomas and NGO Lok Prahari challenging Section 8(4) of the Representation of the People Act, 1951 as being unconstitutional. Accepting the petitions, The Supreme Court held that Section 8(4) is indeed ultra vires to the constitution. 

Importantly, the apex court had added that sitting members who have previously benefited from Section 8(4) would be unaffected by this decision. Therefore, as Babubhai Bokhiria had taken the benefit of section 8(4) of the RPA before the Supreme Court struck it down, here was not liable to resign. Although the Congress party had demanded his resignation after the court verdict, he was not legally bound to do so.

On the other hand, as the said section no longer exists, Rahul Gandhi doesn’t have any protection from disqualification now, and what the parliament did was according to the law, as section 8(3) of RPA says that if any MP or MLA convicted of any offence and sentenced to imprisonment for not less than two years shall be disqualified from the date of conviction, and the disqualification will continue for six years after release from jail.

Meanwhile, Babubhai Bokhiria, a member of the BJP party who was twice elected as an MLA in the Gujarat Legislative Assembly in 2012 and 2017, was sentenced in June 2013 to three years imprisonment in an alleged limestone mining scam. A Gujarat sessions court stayed Bokhiria’s conviction in July 2013. He was acquitted in late 2014.

Hence it is apparent that the court convicted Bokhiria in June 2013, while the apex court judgement on the disqualification of elected representatives following their conviction and sentencing occurred a month later in July 2013. As such, playing the mindless blame game and accusing the BJP of vendetta is completely ridiculous, which Congress adherents should avoid at this time and instead recommend various legal avenues to get the Gandhi scion out of this quandary.

It is interesting to note that the UPA-II government at that time had tried to overturn the Supreme Court judgement by bringing an amendment, and an ordinance was also issued to make it applicable immediately. But Rahul Gandhi himself had objected to this amendment, called it total nonsense, and had trashed it in front of the media. The amendment was withdrawn after this public humiliation of the Manmohan Singh government by its own leader.

‘No funds even to conduct elections,’ Pakistan’s Defence Minister Khawaja Asif shares the severity of the country’s financial troubles

OpIndia Staff
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‘No funds even to conduct elections,’ Pakistan’s Defence Minister Khawaja Asif shares the severity of the country’s financial troubles

The economic crisis in the country of Pakistan has left its Finance Ministry with no funds to even conduct the elections, said Pakistan’s Defence Minister Khawaja Asif. The statement was issued by Defence Minister Asif and the Information Minister, Marriyum Aurangzeb, at a joint news conference on Friday.

Talking about the impending elections, which were postponed from April 30 to October 8, the Minister explained that the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) postponed them due to the deteriorating security situation and difficult economic conditions in the nation. “Since February, in the last one month or couple of months, the security situation has definitely deteriorated,” he admitted.

“I am aware of the fact that the ministry of finance has said that under the present circumstances, we are going through some very tough times, so we won’t be able to provide funds for these elections,” Asif said while talking about lack of funds for elections.

Reportedly, the polls might get hampered not only due to money constraints but also security issues in Pakistan. Asif noted that another significant problem would be the absence of adequate security that may be used at voting places. “The commitment that our army has at the moment for the internal and external threats, they’ve said that it takes almost a month for the deployment of forces to the polling stations, especially the static duty, they have to take over the polling stations,” he said.

Khawaja Asif also slammed Imran Khan, the former Prime Minister of Pakistan, and claimed that his allegation of an attempted assassination against him was false. “He first extended the tenure of former army chief General retired Qamar Javed Bajwa and now he is now blaming him. First, he blamed the US for his ouster,” the Minister said. 

The minister stated that while Khan illegally disbanded the provincial assembly, he was constitutionally removed from office by a vote of no confidence, and he now intends to escape appearing in court.

Asif further accused the PTI leader of imprisoning Pakistan Muslim League (N) politicians while in office. He said that throughout Khan’s three years in office, he was imprisoned and that his party leader also had to appear in court on fabricated charges.

“Imran Khan is creating crises every day but the government is tackling these crises and Pakistan will come out of all these crises soon,” Khawaja Asif remarked. He further added that the former prime minister developed an erroneous narrative of a US conspiracy but that the Supreme Court intervened and saved the country from a constitutional crisis.

Pakistan is currently experiencing its most difficult economic situation in the last 20 years. The country’s resources have also been depleted as a result of the economic crisis, political unrest, and increasing number of attacks in the northwest.

Ahead of Karnataka polls, BJP govt scraps 4% OBC Muslim reservation, splits it between Vokkaligas and Lingayats

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Ahead of Karnataka polls, BJP govt scraps 4% OBC Muslim reservation, splits it between Vokkaligas and Lingayats

The BJP government in Karnataka, led by CM Basavaraj Bommai, adjusted the SC/ST and OBC reservation ratios shortly before the Assembly elections to take into account long-standing requests for higher quotas put forth by various communities.   

Bommai, who presided over the final cabinet of his term on Friday, abolished the current 4% reservation (2B category) for Muslims under the OBC quota and transferred them to the 10% pool for the Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) and increased the quota for Lingayats and Vokkaligas by 2% each.

A significant segment of the Lingayat population known as the Panchamasali Lingayat had been pushing for a change in the reservation category from 3B (5%) to 2A (15%). The Vokkaliga community, which was granted 4% of the OBC list’s 3A category’s reservations, made an identical demand. Accordingly,  on March 24, the Bommai administration added two more categories to the OBC list- 2A for Vokkaligas and 2D for Lingayats, boosting the overall quota to 6% and 7%, respectively.

The Panchamasali Lingayat movement had put the BJP administration under pressure due to the Supreme Court’s 1992 ruling (Indira Sawhney vs Union of India) that set a 50% ceiling on SC, ST, and OBC quota. Moreover, the Panchamasali Lingayats shared the 5% quota with other Veerashaiva-Lingayat subcultures, besides, Maratha, Jain, Christian, Bunt and Satani caste groups and switching them from 3B to 2A category was bound to frustrate the 102 castes including Kuruba, Idiga, Devadiga, Kumbara, Vishwakarma and Tigala that are already reaping the benefits under 2A.

“The Muslims have been shifted from 2A to EWS quota as there is no Constitutional provision for reservation for religious minorities. As per Dr Ambedkar too reservation is for the caste alone. However, my government has decided to move the minorities to EWS as both the old and new categories have the economic criterion,” said Bommai while briefing the media after the cabinet meeting. He also increased the reservation quota from 50 per cent to 56 per cent.

During the winter session in Belagavi in December of last year, the Karnataka legislature enacted the “Karnataka Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Reservation of Seats in Educational Institutions and of Appointments or Posts in the Services Under the State) Bill, 2022” to increase the reservation for SCs from 15% to 17% and for STs from 3% to 7%.

Bommai further said that the SC community had been split into four divisions, citing Article 341(2) of the Constitution.

“Among the untouchables, the SC (Left) – Madiga, Adi Dravida and Bambi will now get 6 per cent reservation and SC (Right) which includes Adi Karnataka Holeya and Chalavadi will get 5.5 per cent. Among the touchables, the Banjara, Bhovi, Koracha and Korama will get 4.5 per cent and Are Alemari and Alemari (nomads) will get the remaining one percent,” explained Bommai.

Notably, on October 8, 2022, the state cabinet had officially approved raising the SC/ST quota based on a proposal by Judge H.N. Nagamohan Das. Moreover, an ordinance was also approved. However, the BJP administration wrote to the Center asking for a constitutional change on March 23. In contrast to the Supreme Court’s 50% cap, the amended policy has increased the percentage of reservations in Karnataka to 56% – SC 17%, ST 7%, and OBC 32%.

Meanwhile, CLP leader Siddaramaiah criticized the BJP for eliminating the 2A category (which had a 4% quota for Muslims) and allocating it to the Lingayats and Vokkaligas. “It is an effort to breed animosity between the communities,” he said. 

US: Indian Americans hold a rally in support of India outside the San Francisco consulate that was attacked by Khalistanis

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US: Indian Americans hold a rally in support of India outside the San Francisco consulate that was attacked by Khalistanis

The San Francisco consulate of India, which was vandalised by Khalistan supporters earlier this week, was the site of a large peace rally by members of the Indian-American community in support of India.

On Sunday, March 19, a group of pro-Khalistan demonstrators attacked and vandalised the Indian consulate in San Francisco. They demolished the temporary security barricades put up by the local police while shouting pro-Khalistan slogans and placed two ‘Khalistani flags’ inside the Consulate’s grounds. Soon after, two embassy employees took down these flags.

In an effort to show their support for India, a significant number of Indian Americans travelled from San Francisco and the surrounding areas and waved the tricolour at the consulate on Friday. They denounced the damaging actions of the few separatist Sikhs who were also present at the site.

To avert any unfortunate incident, local police officers were also present there in force. Some of the separatist Sikhs raised the flag of Khalistan and yelled pro-Khalistan slogans, but they were swamped by the massive group of Indian Americans who chanted pro-Indian slogans like ‘Vande Mataram’ and carried the Indian national flag alongside the US one.

Recent months have seen an increase in anti-Indian activities by Khalistanis, who have defaced certain Hindu temples in Canada, Australia, and the UK.

The incident of vandalism at the Indian consulate general in San Francisco by pro-Khalistan individuals during an anti-India rally was brought up by India in a meeting with the US Charge d’Affaires in Delhi.

The US administration was reminded of its basic obligation to protect and secure diplomatic representation and has been asked to take the necessary steps to stop similar occurrences from happening again, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MEA) in New Delhi.

Indian Embassy in Washington D.C also notified the US State Department on the same issue.

In the US, there are roughly 4.2 million persons of Indian origin or American Indian heritage. The third-largest Asian ethnic group in the US comprises people of Indian descent. 

Khalistanis have escalated their hostile activities after the crackdown on Sikh separatist organization ‘Waris Punjab De’ and its radical chief Amritpal Singh.

Punjab government not serious about arresting Amritpal Singh: Haryana Home Minister Anil Vij

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Punjab government not serious about arresting Amritpal Singh: Haryana Home Minister Anil Vij

On Friday, March 24, Anil Vij, the Haryana Home Minister, claimed that the Punjab government was not serious about arresting fugitive pro-Khalistani leader Amritpal Singh. He alleged that the Punjab Police was informed of Amritpal’s whereabouts by the Haryana Police, but it took them one and a half days to get to Shahabad in Haryana from Punjab.

During a media interaction on March 24 in Ambala, Minister Vij said, “I don’t think the Punjab government is serious about arresting Amritpal Singh.  They have been lax in this matter. He was here in Shahbad eating at a relative’s residence while they were hunting in Jalandhar with all of their personnel. If he is a most-wanted person why you deployed all the police force to Jalandhar, while he was having rotis with his relatives in Shahabad.”

“He had already fled Shahbad by the time we learned of his whereabouts. However, the Punjab Police were notified, but it took them 1.5 days to get to Shahabad. I don’t know about their political drama but all this makes the Punjab government’s lax response to this issue very evident,” Vij asserted.

Vij’s statement comes after reports emerged that Amritpal crossed over to Haryana after escaping Punjab, where he took shelter in a lady’s house in Shahbad on the intervening night of March 19-20.  On Thursday, the police officers in pursuit of Amritpal Singh, claimed to have recovered CCTV footage that showed the last location of the fugitive leader in Haryana’s Shahbad area. The CCTV footage shows a man walking with an umbrella, who is suspected to be Amritpal Singh. The footage is from Sidhartha Colony in Shahbad Markanda, Kurukshetra.

According to reports, Amritpal reportedly left for Delhi on Friday. Since receiving the information, the Delhi Police have been on high alert and are working to track down Amritpal. An alert has also been issued in the nearby state of Uttarakhand and its districts of Dehradun, Haridwar, and Udham Singh Nagar.

The Punjab Inspector General of Police, Headquarters, stated on Thursday that a total of 207 people had been arrested for disrupting the state’s peace and harmony during the crackdown on Amritpal Singh. “Police teams are thoroughly screening every person who has been arrested, and they will soon be released from police custody,” he said.

Rahul Gandhi case: Petition filed before Supreme Court to declare automatic disqualification of convicted MPs ‘illegal’

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Rahul Gandhi case: Petition filed before Supreme Court to declare automatic disqualification of convicted MPs ‘illegal’

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.

With Rahul Gandhi disqualified, Election Commission will have to hold Wayanad by-poll before September 22

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With Rahul Gandhi disqualified, Election Commission will have to hold Wayanad by-poll before September 22

On Friday, March 24, 2023, the Lok Sabha secretariat notified the disqualification of Rahul Gandhi from the lower House of the parliament after the Waynad MP was convicted. The Congress leader was sentenced to two years in jail by the court of Chief Judicial Magistrate in Surat on March 23 for his defamatory comments against people with the Modi surname in a speech in 2019. Now, the Election Commission will have to soon announce the by-poll for the Wayanad constituency if Rahul Gandhi fails to get relief in higher courts. 

Citing sources, India Today reported that the Election Commission may announce by-elections in Wayanad in the month of April. Notably, Rahul Gandhi will not be able to run for office for eight years after being convicted and stands disqualified unless a higher court stays or overturns his conviction and sentence.

According to Section 151A of the Representation of the People Act, 1951, a bye-election for filling any vacancy shall be held within a period of six months from the date of the occurrence of the vacancy. With the stipulation that nothing in this section will apply if (a) a member’s remaining term in relation to a vacancy is less than one year, or (b) the Election Commission certifies, after consulting with the Central Government, that it will be difficult to hold the bye-election within the specified time period.

Meanwhile, along with losing his membership in the Lower House, Rahul is likely to forfeit the perks and advantages of being a member of parliament after being found ineligible. The Congress leader will be given a month to vacate his official bungalow at 12 Tuglaq Road in New Delhi.

Rahul Gandhi will also no longer be eligible for a number of perks that are available to all Members of Parliament. This includes a monthly constituency allowance of Rs 70,000 and a salary of Rs 1,00,000. Each MP is also entitled to a monthly office expenditure payment of Rs 60,000, which includes Rs 40,000 in secretarial support.

Along with this, the Congress scion will also lose his travel allowances, which include a free, non-transferable first class AC or executive class train pass, one first class and one-second class fare, one and a quarter of the member’s airfare, and a Rs 16 per km allowance for road travel.

Notably, Rahul Gandhi was convicted and sentenced to two years in jail by the court of Chief Judicial Magistrate in Surat on Thursday 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 Modi surname is a thief, mentioning Nirav Modi, Lalit Modi, and Narendra Modi.

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