New Delhi: With the Surat session court's decision of extending Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's bail till April 13 in the 'Modi surname' case, there are speculations about his conviction being stayed -- which will also affect his disqualification as a Member of Parliament from the Lok Sabha.
Talking about the matter to ETV Bharat, Supreme Court Advocate Ashwini Dubey said that courts don't normally interfere in the House's work and 'Parliament's decision will have to be revoked by the Parliament only'. Though the disqualification will essentially have to do with what happens to Rahul's conviction -- which the courts will decide -- it is the Lok Sabha Speaker who shall give the final call on the same as per law.
Further stating that since Rahul had anyway been granted a relief for 30 days i.e till April 23 by the trial court, the extension of bail won't really have any impact on his disqualification case. "Arguments will be concluded as usual. In case court stays execution of conviction, only then will the disqualification be affected," Advocate Dubey said.
Though as per the law, a Member of Parliament gets automatically disqualified if convicted for 2 years or more, there have been some exceptions. Explaining the same, Advocate Dubey said that Rahul Gandhi's case can be compared with, and can even benefit from the recent Lakshadweep MP Mohammed Faizal's case.
"A Sessions court had convicted Mohammed Faizal. But the Kerela HC had suspended his conviction within 10 days of that. The HC observed that it wasn't a case under section 307, as was alleged, since there was no bodily injury or offences that pointed at attempt to murder or recovery of weapon. There was no specific evidence pointing towards Faizal so his conviction was suspended. Lakshadweep had then moved to the Supreme Court which dismissed it," said Adv Dubey.
Rahul Gandhi's case also doesn't come under grave offences or offences like section 307, he explained. "Defamation is not very grave. But there is a grey area in this case. In case his conviction is stayed, it will be have to be seen what the Parliament decides. Either he will become MP again or election process will start. Otherwise, Rahul Gandhi will have to approach the court again," Advocate Dubey said.
The case dates back to 2019 when during an election campaign rally in Karnataka, Rahul Gandhi had asked why all thieves have Modi as their surname. It was considered derogatory to the Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his community. The matter reached court after a BJP MP filed a defamation case against Gandhi.
On March 23, a Gujarat court had held him guilty under section 500 (defamation) of the Indian Penal Code and sentenced him to two years imprisonment. The conviction led to Rahul Gandhi's disqualification as the Member of Parliament, which can only be reinstated if his conviction is suspended by a higher court and the Parliament thereafter decides to revoke his disqualification.
He was given a time of 30 days by the court to appeal against the order in sessions court. He then filed an appeal in the sessions court that extended his bail today, but did not stay the conviction.
