'Disqualified As MP': Kapil Sibal Says As Rahul Gandhi Faces 8 Yrs' Restriction From Fighting Polls After Conviction
Congress MP Rahul Gandhi faces eight years of restriction from contesting polls if the conviction of a Surat court is upheld by the higher courts.
New Delhi: Former Union Minister Kapil Sibal has said that Rahul Gandhi stands disqualified as a Member of Parliament after the Surat court verdict which sentenced him to a two-year term in connection with the Modi 'surname' remark row. The two-year conviction can be followed by disqualification by the Lok Sabha secretariat. If the conviction remains, Rahul Gandhi will also be not able to contest polls for eight years.
As per the Representation of People Act, 1951, a person convicted and sentenced to imprisonment for not less than two years, shall be disqualified and will remain so for a period of the next six years. It means, that apart from his jail term, Gandhi will not be able to contest polls for subsequent six more years.
"A person convicted of any offence and sentenced to imprisonment for not less than two years [other than any offence referred to in sub-section (1) or sub-section (2)] 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 Act says.
Reacting to the sentence, Sibal said that only if there is a stay on the conviction, Rahul Gandhi will continue to be an MP.
"If it (the court) only suspends the sentence that's not enough. There has to be a suspension or stay of conviction. He (Rahul Gandhi) can stay on as a member of parliament only if there is a stay on the conviction," former Congress MP Kapil Sibal told NDTV.
Notably, in the Lily Thomas versus Union of India case in 2013, the Supreme Court had ruled that "any MP, MLA or MLC who is convicted of a crime and given a minimum of 2 years' jail loses membership of the House with immediate effect". The apex court had scrapped Section 8(4) of the Representation of the People Act, which allowed elected representatives three months to appeal against their conviction, calling it "unconstitutional".
It is to be noted that the court has given Rahul Gandhi 30 days to appeal his sentence.
Lawyer and BJP MP Mahesh Jethmalani told NDTV, "By the operation of the law, he stands disqualified, but the decision has to be communicated to the Speaker. But as of today, he stands disqualified".
Kapil Sibal On Sentence
Prominent lawyer Kapil Sibal termed the court's verdict as 'bizarre'. He told NDTV, "For a statement made in respect of certain individuals, for him to be convicted for two years -- it is totally bizarre."
Sibal had quit Congress in May last year and launched his new platform "Insaaf ki Sipahi (platform for justice)".
Notably, a Surat court on Thursday convicted Congress MP Rahul Gandhi in a defamation case for his alleged 'Modi surname' remark during the 2019 Lok Sabha poll campaign. He was sentenced to two years in jail by the court.
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