Rahul Gandhi's stance on disqualification ordinance comes back to haunt him
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New Delhi: Rahul Gandhi, who exerted pressure on the then Manmohan Singh government to revoke an ordinance that had been introduced against the Supreme Court's judgment calling for the immediate disqualification of elected representatives from their respective legislative bodies upon conviction by any court, is likely to be expelled from Parliament following his conviction by a Surat court.
A Surat court has found Rahul Gandhi guilty in a defamation case filed against him in connection with his alleged use of the Modi surname.
On July 10, 2013, the Supreme Court had pronounced a landmark judgment stating that convicted MPs, MLAs, and MLCs could not continue to hold their seats until they had exhausted all judicial remedies, up to the level of the Supreme Court of India.
However, the Manmohan Singh government had brought an ordinance to override the Supreme Court's ruling, which was subsequently withdrawn after Rahul Gandhi staged a public protest against it.
In the Lily Thomas vs Union of India case, the Supreme Court declared that any MP, MLA or MLC convicted of a crime and sentenced to a minimum of 2 years in jail would lose their membership in the House immediately. The court struck down Section 8(4) of the Representation of the People Act, which granted elected representatives three months to appeal their conviction, deeming it "unconstitutional."
Two months later, the UPA government passed an ordinance to annul the Supreme Court's order. This was perceived as an attempt to shield RJD supremo and Congress ally Lalu Prasad from disqualification in the fodder scam case. Meanwhile, veteran Congress leader and Rajya Sabha MP Rashid Masood had already been convicted in a corruption case and was at risk of immediate disqualification.
The Opposition, including the BJP and the Left, heavily criticized the Manmohan Singh government and the Congress for the ordinance, accusing them of protecting convicted lawmakers.
Shortly after the ordinance was passed, Rahul made an unexpected and dramatic appearance at a party press event in Delhi. There, he publicly rebuked the UPA government over the ordinance, calling it "complete nonsense," and urging for it to be "ripped apart and thrown out." This caused a major embarrassment for PM Manmohan Singh and his Cabinet colleagues.
