When Rahul Gandhi 'Tore' An Ordinance That Could Have Saved Him From Disqualification

Will Rahul Gandhi be disqualified from Lok Sabha? Until his conviction is stayed by a higher court, the Congress leader is likely to lose his Lok Sabha seat.

Pic Credit: File Photo

New Delhi: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi faces a high probability of being disqualified from the Lok Sabha after his conviction by a Surat court in a 2019 criminal defamation case. According to a 2013 Supreme Court court, MPs and MLAs convicted in criminal cases with a minimum 2-year jail sentence stand to be disqualified from the House immediately. Gandhi received a 2-year jail term in the 'Modi surname' defamation case and is currently out on bail. Until his conviction is stayed by a higher court, he is likely to lose his Lok Sabha seat. 

What is interesting is that when the Supreme Court announced the 2013 order on the disqualification of politicians over criminal cases, the UPA government had suggested an ordinance that allowed convicted MPs and MLAs to retain their position in the House for 3 months after their sentence. In that period, they could appeal to higher courts for a stay order on their conviction, and retain their seat in the House.

However, Rahul Gandhi had strongly opposed to this ordinance by the UPA government and even tore a copy of the ordinance in public at the time. Other Opposition parties including the BJP were also against this suggestion as it alleged that this was a way of protecting convicted legislators. Opposition parties also accused the Congress of attempting to protect its ally Lalu Prasad Yadav who would be disqualified if found guilty in a fodder scam case in which he later was convicted.

Gandhi had stated that the ordinance was "complete nonsense" and should be "torn and thrown out". Due to this internal conflict in the views of the Congress, the UPA government had to rescind the ordinance. However, this decision seems to have turned the odds against Rahul Gandhi 10 years later as now, he stands to lose his Lok Sabha membership over his recent conviction.