New Delhi: As a Surat trial court held Rahul Gandhi guilty in a defamation case over allegedly derogatory remarks made against the Modi community in 2019, the BJP has decided to weigh the legal aspects of the matter before it pushes for the Congress leader’s disqualification as an MP.
Though many in the party have publicly called this a fit case for disqualification, the BJP is trying to maintain a measured response for now.
A party leader told ThePrint on condition of anonymity, “It is a legal fight. The party will weigh the pros and cons of the issue before jumping to push for disqualification as it will give undue sympathy to Rahul Gandhi.”
He added that BJP does not want to send a signal that the government is “desperate” to disqualify the Wayanad MP. “He has the right to approach the court. The court has already given him time and MPs have the right to approach the Speaker too. But politically, the party will keep building pressure to corner him through various means.”
Helming the BJP’s bid to maintain political pressure on the Congress leader, former law minister Ravi Shanker Prasad Thursday accused Rahul of insulting an entire community, and not just a surname.
Party MP Nishikant Dubey already has an application pending with Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, demanding that a special committee be constituted to decide whether Rahul should be expelled from the House over his remarks at Cambridge University earlier this month. But the latest court order has given the BJP more ammunition.
BJP MP Harnath Singh Yadav told ThePrint, “Rahul Gandhi is continuously making statements to defame Indian democracy and its people. This (Modi community) statement is against caste, which is highly damaging against one community. Why do Rahul’s statements cause cheer in Pakistan and China? If anyone’s statements create animosity against a community, he can be disqualified. We demand his (Rahul’s) disqualification from Parliament.”
His conviction in the defamation case has got many speculating about Rahul’s status as an MP. Asked about the same, a source in the Speaker’s office told ThePrint: “Let a complaint come first to disqualify him, we will examine it under the rules.”
The 2013 SC judgment & calls for disqualification
Soon after the trial court order, Kanchan Gupta, senior advisor to the information and broadcasting ministry, posted a series of tweets seeking Rahul’s immediate disqualification as MP, citing a 2013 Supreme Court judgment.
He wrote: “In the Lily Thomas vs Union of India judgment of 10 July 2013, Supreme Court of India 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’.”
He also cited the case of Samajwadi Party MLA Azam Khan, who was disqualified immediately after a trial court sentenced him to three years in prison in a 2019 hate speech case last year.
BJP leader Amit Malviya reposted Gupta’s Twitter thread, saying: “In a democracy, nobody, absolutely nobody is above the law. All are equal. The law, therefore, equally applies to Rahul Gandhi.”
Can a case for disqualification be made?
Parliamentary experts ThePrint spoke to are of the opinion that a convicted MP can be disqualified in two instances. One, if the offence for which he/she is convicted is listed under Section 8(1) of the Representation of People Act, 1951, which includes offences such as promoting enmity among groups, bribery and undue influence or personation at an election. Defamation does not fall in this list.
Second, if the lawmaker is convicted for any other offence and sentenced to a period of two years or more, but fails to secure a stay on his/her conviction. Simply filing an appeal or suspension of sentence will not be enough to evade disqualification, the experts said.
Former Lok Sabha secretary general P.D.T Achary told ThePrint: “The conviction and sentence are linked. The court stayed the sentence for 30 days. This case will not involve his disqualification if we take into account the 2013 judgment also.”
The leg room provided by the trial court in the form of 30 days’ bail to appeal the verdict has given temporary relief to Rahul Gandhi. However, sources in the opposition told ThePrint that the BJP could use this time to push the Congress leader into a corner.
Ruckus continues, inside & outside Parliament
Outside Parliament, Ravi Shanker Prasad kept the momentum going, raining barbs on Rahul at a press conference.
“Modis are a community, not just a surname. They are sportsmen, politicians, doctors and businessmen. If you brand a certain surname as thieves, then it’s clearly defamatory. Rahul Gandhi said he believes in truth and non-violence. Does believing in truth and non-violence mean you will insult people and hurl caste-related abuses?” he asked while addressing a press conference.
He also asked why Rahul was “working to defame the country and its people”.
“Rahul Gandhi raised questions on the court verdict in the Rafale case, but he apologised. We respect criticism but Rahul is not doing criticism, he is defaming the country, democracy and its people,” added the Lok Sabha MP.
Inside Parliament, the ruckus over Rahul’s remarks in the UK and the Adani issue continued in both Houses. With the deadlock showing no signs of easing, the government pushed for guillotining of the demand of grants, and passage of the Appropriation Bill. The guillotine is a legislative mechanism wherein all outstanding demands for grants, whether discussed or not, are put to vote all at once to save time.
When the Lok Sabha met Thursday, Congress MP Adhir Ranjan Choudhary asked Speaker Om Birla to give Rahul Gandhi a chance to make a statement in the House to defend himself, the Speaker told him to return to his seat to allow business of the House to continue. However, when BJP MPs started sloganeering, demanding Rahul’s apology, Birla said: “Everybody will get a chance to speak. I have not restricted anybody from speaking in the house if he follows rules.”
Similar scenes were witnessed in Rajya Sabha, where Leader of the House Piyush Goyal said, “The nation wants an apology from the Congress leader who has discredited our nation, parliament and judiciary.”
(Edited by Gitanjali Das)
Also read: Who are Modis? Community ‘defamed’ by Rahul has nomadic origins, came to Gujarat 600 years ago