New Delhi:Congress leader Rahul Gandhi will remain disqualified as a Lok Sabha MP after the Gujarat High Court on Friday declined his plea to stay his conviction in a defamation case over his 2019 Modi surname remark. According to legal experts, the former Congress chief should immediately move the Supreme Court and seek a stay on his conviction in the case.
Speaking with ETV Bharat senior advocate Dinesh Dwivedi said that Rahul Gandhi should immediately move the Supreme Court challenging the HC order and seek a stay on his conviction in the case. The Gujarat HC had said the conviction is just, proper, and legal.
Also read:Defamation case: Gujarat HC dismisses Rahul Gandhi's petition
Gandhi is not likely – if there is no stay on his conviction – to make it back into the Parliament in the Monsoon session beginning July 20. Also, if the top court refuses to stay his conviction in the case, then Gandhi will not be able to contest the election slated next year. Gujarat High Court single-judge bench said that staying conviction is not a rule and the same must only be exercised in rare cases.
Senior advocate and former Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) president Vikas Singh said both the Supreme Court and High courts have stayed the conviction in such matters before considering that denying it would affect sitting legislators and also the individual's right to contest election. Singh said that the High Court should have stayed his conviction in the matter.
The Gujarat HC has also cited another defamation case filed against Gandhi by the grandson of Veer Savarkar. Senior advocate Aman Lekhi said that Rahul Gandhi should move the apex court seeking a stay on his conviction and emphasized that "there is potent weakness in the case itself".
The criminal defamation case against Rahul Gandhi stemmed from his 2019 remark made during an election rally in Kolar, Karnataka. On March 23, 2023, a metropolitan magistrate's court in Surat convicted Gandhi under Sections 499 and 500 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), which pertain to criminal defamation, and sentenced him to two years in prison.
Consequently, following the conviction, Rahul Gandhi, who had been elected to the Lok Sabha from Wayanad in Kerala, was disqualified as a MP under the provisions of the Representation of the People Act. Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla enforced this disqualification. Gandhi challenged this order in a sessions court in Surat, but his plea for a stay on the conviction was rejected. However, he was granted bail by the sessions court on April 20. Subsequently, he filed an appeal at the Gujarat HC after the ruling of the sessions court.
Also read:After Gujarat HC dismisses Rahul Gandhi's plea, Congress hits the streets to protest
