With Rahul disqualified, what rules say about Wayanad bypoll

With Rahul Gandhi being disqualified from the Lok Sabha owing to a conviction in a defamation case, his seat in Wayanad, Kerala has fallen vacant.

The ball now is in the court of the Election Commission of India, which has to ensure that an election to the Wayanad seat is conducted within the next six months.

The mandate under Section 15A of the Representation of People Act, 1951 is that the Election Commission should fill casual vacancies in the House of Parliament and state legislatures through a by-election within six months from the date of occurrence of a vacancy. This is provided that the remainder of the term of a member in relation to a vacancy is one year or more, the rule states.

Rahul Gandhi was automatically disqualified from his Lok Sabha membership on March 23, when the court convicted him for his 'Modi' remarks and sentenced him to two years imprisonment. If his conviction and sentence holds in the higher judiciary, then he will not be allowed to contest an election for 8 years ie a six year bar under the Representation of People Act and two years owing to the term of his sentence.

In the current case, the EC under Section 151A is mandated to hold a by-poll in Wayanad by September 22 2023. This is because the vacancy arose more than a year before the term of the 17th Lok Sabha and hence the by-poll cannot be dispensed with, even though the new MP would have a short tenure.

The Election Commission may have to set aside its plan to announce the Wayanad by-poll. Even if it were to announce it, it may have to set it aside in the event of the court staying the conviction, before the election process is completed.

Recently, a similar scenario arose, following the disqualification of Lakshadweep, Member of Parliament Mohammed Faizal, following his conviction in an attempt-to-murder case on January 11 2023. The conviction attracted an immediate and automatic disqualification from his membership of the Lok Sabha by virtue of Section 8(3) of the Representation of People Act.

In Faizal's case, the Lok Sabha secretariat notified the disqualification with effect January 11 itself. The Election Commission immediately followed the same up with the by-poll and tied with the assembly elections in the three northeastern states. The by-poll had to be suspended, after the Kerala High Court stayed the conviction.

With the Kerala High Court staying Faizal's conviction, his membership of the Lok Sabha was automatically restored. However Faizal has said that he would move the Supreme Court, if Lok Sabha Speaker, Om Birla does not reinstate his membership. He said after he got a stay on his conviction from the Kerala High Court, he had made a formal request to the Lok Sabha Speaker urging him to cancel his disqualification from the House and reinstate his membership.

"Despite repeated requests, no notification has come so far about my reinstatement. I will move the Supreme Court early next week if my membership is not restored, Faizal Mohammed had told Economic Times.