Guwahati: Congress Leader Rahul Gandhi has been disqualified from serving in the Lok Sabha as of March 23, the date of his conviction in the criminal defamation case involving his remark about the “Modi surname.”
The Lok Sabha secretariat in a notification issued on Friday read, “Shri Rahul Gandhi, Member of Lok Sabha representing the Wayanad Parliamentary Constituency of Kerala stands disqualified from the membership of Lok Sabha from the date of his conviction i.e. 23 March, 2023 in terms of the provisions of Article 102(1) (e) of the Constitution of India read with Section 8 of the Representation of the People Act, 1951.”
Rahul Gandhi was found guilty on Thursday and given a two-year prison term in a defamation case that was brought against him in 2019 over allegedly disparaging comments he made about the “Modi surname.” In order to give him time to file an appeal with a higher court, the judge granted him bail and deferred the punishment for 30 days.
In the build-up to the 2019 Lok Sabha general elections, Gandhi had allegedly remarked, “how come all the thieves have Modi as the common surname?” during a public rally at Kolar in Karnataka. BJP legislator and former minister of Gujarat Purnesh Modi filed a complaint against Rahul Gandhi, the Wayanad MP.
Also, he last appeared in court in October 2021 to give a statement in a defamation action brought against him under IPC sections 499 and 500.
Rahul Gandhi served as an MP for the Kerala district of Wayanad.