New Delhi: The Congress party Friday welcomed the Supreme Court order staying Rahul Gandhi’s conviction in a defamation case and termed it as a “victory for truth and democracy”.
The SC order paves way for Rahul to return to Parliament and to contest the next year’s Lok Sabha polls.
“Democracy has won. The Constitution has won. Satyamev Jayate has won. We are happy. We welcome the Supreme Court verdict. The Constitution is still alive. Nyay mil sakta hai (Justice can be done). This is an example,” Congress national president Mallikarjun Kharge asserted. “This is not Rahul Gandhi’s win, but a win for the people of the country.”
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This is not just a win for Shri @RahulGandhi, but a win for truth and the people of India. https://t.co/u7VrUJtPJL
— Mallikarjun Kharge (@kharge) August 4, 2023
While Rahul was hesitating to show the victory sign during his address later, Kharge readily waved the V-sign.
“If not today, tomorrow. If not tomorrow, the day after, truth wins. My way is clear. I have clarity as to what my work is. I thank all those who supported us,” Rahul said, addressing the media at the party headquarters, where hundreds of party workers had gathered to celebrate their “victory”.
Taking a jibe at the Lok Sabha Speaker, Kharge said, “They took 24 hours to disqualify Rahul Gandhi. Now let’s see how many hours they take to restore the membership. That (earlier) judgment came from Gujarat, but this one is from Delhi only. We will see how much time they’ll take to make the decision. It is a victory of people, victory of voters, victory of people of Wayanad.”
Rahul had run into trouble for his speech made during an election rally in Karnataka’s Kolar in 2019. “Why do all thieves have Modi in their names whether it be Nirav Modi, Lalit Modi, or Narendra Modi?” he had said.
On 23 March, a sessions court convicted Rahul and sentenced him to two years imprisonment while hearing a case filed on the complaint of Gujarat BJP MLA and former state minister Purnesh Modi. In July, the Gujarat High Court had upheld the verdict and dismissed his plea for relief.
Within a day of his conviction by a sessions court, the Lok Sabha Secretariat had issued a notice stating that Rahul was disqualified from the Lower House of Parliament under Article 102(1)(c) of the Constitution and Section 8(3) of the Representation of the People Act, 1951.
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‘Will naturally take cognisance of this’
Congress leader in the Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury has already reached out to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla for restoration of Rahul’s membership.
“You know how quickly his membership was revoked. At the same time, the residence was also vacated. The family that gave India its three prime ministers, the family that gave two sacrifices — a member of that family, Rahul Gandhi ji, was pushed out of his residence. We had the belief that truth will prevail,” Chowdhury said at the press briefing.
“He (Rahul) is yet to enter Parliament. I met the Speaker and I requested him that the speed at which Rahul Gandhi was disqualified, with the same speed, he should be brought back. To which the speaker said, ‘documents from the Supreme Court should be given to us as soon as possible. Rest we will see what can be done’,” he said.
Earlier during the day, Chowdhury also raised the issue inside the House while the proceedings were on in the Lok Sabha. To which the chair at the time, Rajendra Agrawal, responded: “We will naturally take cognisance of this.”
Senior Congress leader Abhishek Manu Singhvi, who represented Rahul in the apex court, said the party expects the membership to be restored maximum by Saturday, if not Friday. “We hope our conviction will turn into acquittal soon.”
Singhvi added that the verdict “demonstrates how the opposition — principle voice amongst them, has been in many ways Rahul Gandhi’s — doesn’t yield on vital issues like unemployment, economic stagnation, farmers issues, etc”.
“Rahul Gandhi’s disqualification is only a consequence of conviction,” he said.
This would mean that his disqualification also needs to be revoked, a precedent of the same is available in the case of Lakshadweep MP P.P. Mohammed Faizal, according to Singhvi.
Faizal’s Lok Sabha membership was restored by the Speaker in March, two months after the Kerala High Court suspended his conviction and 10-year sentence in an attempt-to-murder case.
In its order, the Supreme Court asserted that the maximum sentence for defamation under the Indian Penal Code is two years or fine, or both.
“The learned trial judge has awarded the maximum sentence of two years. Except the admonition to the petitioner by this court in a contempt proceeding, no other reason has been granted by the learned trial judge while imposing the maximum sentence of two years. It is to be noted that it is only on account of the maximum sentence of two years imposed by the learned trial judge that the provisions of Section 8(3) of the Representation of Peoples Act came into play. Had the sentence been a day lesser, then the provisions would not have been attracted,” the top court said.
(Edited by Tony Rai)
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