Congress leader in Lok Sabha, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, writing to Speaker Om Birla demanding a debate on whether Rahul Gandhi’s disqualification from Lok Sabha was “a disproportionate punishment.” Chowdhury cited a case from 2016 where a BJP MP was not disqualified from Parliament despite being awarded a three-year jail term for various offences. Chowdhury argued that Rahul Gandhi’s sentence was suspended by the same court for a period of one month, which facilitated his next attempt for an appeal in higher courts.
The article also mentions that on Monday, a sessions court in Surat granted bail to Rahul Gandhi in the defamation case and suspended his two-year sentence till the disposal of the appeal against his conviction. Section 8 of the Representation of the People Act specifies the grounds for disqualification of a member of parliament. According to this section, a person will be disqualified for being chosen as, or for being, a member of parliament if they have been convicted of an offense and sentenced to imprisonment for two or more years, and if more than three years have elapsed since their release. This provision aims to prevent individuals with criminal records from occupying positions of power in the legislative branch.
