When Rahul Gandhi trashed a Bill to save convicted politicians

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi was convicted and sentenced to two years in jail after being found guilty in a defamation case.

The court has however kept the sentence in abeyance while giving the Congress leader 30 days time to go in appeal. This would mean that he would remain a member of the Lok Sabha and not be disqualified under the Representation of People Act.

On July 10 2013, the Supreme Court had held that any MP, MLA or MLC convicted of a crime and given a minimum of two years imprisonment will lose their seat immediately.

Prior to this order, all elected representatives held on to their seat until they exhausted all forms of appeals.

The Supreme Court's 2013 order came at a time when a conviction for RJD leader Lalu Prasad Yadav in the fodder scam looked certain.

While trying to overturn the order of the Supreme Court, the then UPA government led by Dr. Manmohan Singh brought in the Representation of People (Second Amendment and Validation) Bill, 2013. The Bill introduced by then Law Minister, Kapil Sibal in the Rajya Sabha said that a member would not be disqualified immediately after conviction. A review in this regard was dismissed by the Supreme Court.

The Centre however met with an opposition from the most unlikely quarter to the Bill. It was Rahul Gandhi, the then vice-president of the Congress who called the ordinance, 'complete nonsense.' He also said that it should be torn up and thrown away. This is my personal opinion, he had said. These events unfolded when then Prime Minister, Dr. Singh was abroad.

The UPA government however took Rahul Gandhi's personal opinion seriously. The Bill was withdrawn.

In October 2013, Lalu Prasad Yadav was disqualified as a member of the Lok Sabha after being convicted in the fodder scam. He was also disqualified from contesting elections for 11 years-five years of his jail term and six years under the Representation of People Act.

The Representation of People Act says that MPs, MLAs and MLCs lose their seats, if they are sentenced to two years in jail or more. After the conviction, they are not voters for six years and hence cannot contest the elections during that period.

Rahul Gandhi's actions were mentioned when Ghulam Nabi Azad resigned from the Congress. He mentioned, "Rahul Gandhi demolished the entire consultative mechanism of the Congress after he entered politics, particularly after he was made the party's vice president by Sonia Gandhi."

The BJP too had caught on to this issue and said that there was total confusion within the government under prime minister Manmohan Singh.