New Delhi: Hours after his disqualification as a lawmaker Friday, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said he was fighting for the “voice of India” and was “ready to pay any price”.
मैं भारत की आवाज़ के लिए लड़ रहा हूं।
मैं हर कीमत चुकाने को तैयार हूं।
— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) March 24, 2023
Gandhi was disqualified from the Lok Sabha, in accordance with a Supreme Court ruling, after he was convicted in a criminal defamation case by a Surat court Thursday. The judge handed him a two-year jail term – a duration of punishment that automatically disqualifies an MLA, MP or MLC, according to the apex court verdict in 2013.
In the Lily Thomas versus Union of India case, the top court had ruled that “any MP, MLA or MLC who is convicted of a crime and given a minimum of 2 years’ jail loses membership of the House with immediate effect”.
The court had scrapped the Section 8(4) of the Representation of the People Act, which allowed elected representatives three months to appeal against their conviction, calling it “unconstitutional”.
Also read: ‘Will go to jail to save democracy:’ Kharge after Rahul Gandhi disqualified from Lok Sabha