Rahul Gandhi's Lok Sabha Membership Challenged In Supreme Court

A petition has been filed to the Supreme Court, requesting the annulment of the Lok Sabha notification that reinstated the Lok Sabha membership of senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi.

On August 4, the Supreme Court temporarily suspended the conviction of Rahul Gandhi in the "Modi surname" defamation case, which led to the reinstatement of his Lok Sabha membership.

Rahul Gandhi had been disqualified on March 24, 2023, subsequent to his conviction and sentencing in the Modi surname defamation case.

The plea has been filed in the Supreme Court by Ashok Pandey, an advocate from Lucknow, who challenges the August 7 notification issued by the Lok Sabha restoring Gandhi's membership.

In his plea, Pandey argues that, in accordance with the provisions outlined in Article 102, coupled with Section 8 (3) of the Representation of the People (RP) Act, 1951, and the legal precedent set by a constitutional bench of the Supreme Court in the case of BR Kapoor vs. State of Tamil Nadu and another, "disqualification based on conviction and sentence will persist until it is overturned on appeal."

The plea names the Lok Sabha Speaker, the Union of India, the Election Commission of India, and Rahul Gandhi as respondents. It also seeks an order directing the Election Commission to declare Kerala's Wayanad Lok Sabha seat, from which Gandhi was elected as an MP, as vacant and to conduct a fresh election there.

A Gujarat magistrate court had convicted and sentenced senior Congress leader Gandhi based on a complaint by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Purnesh Modi regarding his alleged statement, "Why do all thieves have the Modi surname?" This statement was made prior to the 2019 general elections during a rally in Karnataka.

After failing to obtain the desired relief from a Gujarat Sessions Court and the Gujarat High Court, Gandhi had taken his case to the Supreme Court.