Rahul Gandhi LIVE: Fireworks in Parliament Likely, Cong May Approach SC; Pan-India Stir to Continue

The Congress party has called a meeting of its steering committee members, senior leaders, state chiefs and legislative party leaders on Friday to devise a strategy after Rahul Gandhi’s conviction by a Surat court. The party has planned mega protests in the coming days, taking all like-minded parties along.

Congress president and Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha, Mallikarjun Kharge, has also called a meeting of the opposition parties on Friday, following which the MPs will march to the Vijay Chowk.

On the same evening, all the state Congress presidents and legislative party leaders will meet to chalk out plans for nationwide protests.

▶An ordinance, brought by the UPA government to shield convicted lawmakers from immediate disqualification from the House, was trashed then by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, who even tore it publicly during a media interaction, and eventually it had to be withdrawn.

▶Now, following his conviction in a defamation case by a Surat court on Thursday, his act seems to have come back to haunt him.

▶In a 2013 ruling in the Lily Thomas vs Union of India case, the Supreme Court had struck down, as “unconstitutional”, Section 8(4) of the Representation of The People Act, which stated that if a sitting member of the House is convicted of an offence punishable by more than two years in prison and files an appeal within three months of the conviction, he/she will not be disqualified from holding membership of the House.

▶This meant that for such lawmakers, simply filing an appeal would not be sufficient but they must secure a stay on their conviction in the case.

▶The same year, the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government had promulgated an ordinance to overturn the judgement and retain Section 8 (4), but Rahul Gandhi had called the ordinance “complete nonsense”.

According to legal experts, Gandhi does not face immediate disqualification, as the court has given him an opportunity to file an appeal challenging the sentence.

Gandhi has been convicted under IPC’s Sections 499 and 500 and the maximum possible punishment under these sections is two years. The court of Chief Judicial Magistrate H.H. Varma also granted him bail and suspended the sentence for 30 days to allow him to appeal in a higher court.

Speaking to IANS, senior advocate Rakesh Dwivedi said Gandhi will have to file an appeal to suspend the sentence in the case and there is no immediate disqualification. He added that even the Lok Sabha would wait and Gandhi can file an appeal to challenge the sentence in the case.

Section 8(3) in The Representation of the People Act (RPA), 1951, says: “A disqualification under either sub-section shall not, in the case of a person who on the date of the conviction is a member of Parliament or the Legislature of a State, take effect until three months have elapsed from that date or, if within that period an appeal or application for revision is brought in respect of the conviction or the sentence, until that appeal or application is disposed of by the court.”

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi was granted bail on Thursday by the Surat district court in Gujarat after convicting him and sentencing him to two years in a criminal defamation case against him over his alleged ‘Modi surname’ remark in April 2019.

As per sources, this is the seventh case in which Gandhi is now out on bail.

▶Gandhi is also out on bail in the National Herald case. Rahul Gandhi along with his mother Sonia Gandhi was granted bail in December 2015 on a personal bond of Rs 50,000 in the case pursued by BJP leader Subramanian Swamy.

▶On July 6, 2019, Rahul Gandhi was granted bail by a Patna court in another defamation case. This case was filed by a BJP leader for his comments saying “all Modis are thieves”.

▶On July 12, 2019, Gandhi was granted bail by an Ahmedabad court in a defamation case. The case was filed by the Ahmedabad District Cooperative Bank after he had alleged that the bank was involved in a scam of swapping bank notes during demonetisation.

▶On July 4, 2019, Rahul was granted bail by a Mumbai court in a defamation case filed by a RSS worker. This case was filed for his remark linking activist Gauri Lankesh’s killing with the “BJP-RSS ideology”. The bail was granted on a surety amount of Rs 15,000.

▶In November 2016, the Bhiwandi court in Maharashtra had granted bail to Gandhi in another case filed by another RSS worker. Rahul Gandhi had said that the RSS had killed Mahatma Gandhi. Even the Supreme Court had slammed him for such ‘collective’ comments, and had ruled that he will have to face trial and prove his point in the court.

▶The Guwahati court gave bail to Rahul Gandhi in yet another defamation case filed by the RSS. The bail was granted on a bond of Rs 50,000 in September 2016. The case was filed after Rahul had lied that he was prevented by the RSS from entering the Barpeta Satra in Assam in December 2015.

BJP functionaries from the ‘Teli’ caste and leaders of the community Thursday demanded an apology from Rahul Gandhi for his “defamatory” remark against people with ‘Modi’ surname, following his conviction by a Gujarat court.

They also warned of an agitation against the Congress leader. The ‘Modi’ surname largely belongs to people from the ‘Teli’ community, who are part of the Other Backward Classes. Maharashtra BJP president Chandrashekhar Bawankule condemned the former Congress president for “insulting” Telis, and said it showed his “casteist” mindset.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi also comes from an oil-pressing backward community of Gujarat.

The conviction of Rahul Gandhi by a Surat court in a defamation case was “erroneous and unsustainable” and will be challenged in a higher court, the Congress said on Thursday while expressing hope that the judgment will be stayed and quashed.

Congress spokesperson Abhishek Singhvi said the trial court has given a 170-page judgment that is still subject to translation and the party is working towards filing an appeal against it in a higher court.

“We believe that this is full of errors and legally unsustainable in conclusion. But make no mistake generally…all your (government’s) efforts to create a chilling effect, a throttling effect, strangulating effect on open, fearless speech relating to public interest will not stop either Rahul Gandhi or the Congress party,” he told reporters .

Singhvi said the Congress has faith in the judiciary and will seek legal recourse to the Surat court’s verdict and get relief.

Though this judgment is “erroneous”, in-built corrective measures exist within the judicial system and “we will certainly invoke them”, he said and added, “We are confident that the conviction will be stayed.”

Gandhi after appearing before the Surat court returned to Delhi and was accorded a welcome at the domestic airport on his arrival. Some Congress MPs and leaders who were present at the airport, later held a meeting with him at his residence, sources said.

In the wake of the verdict, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge convened a meeting of senior party leaders and MPs at his residence where after an hour of deliberations they decided to stage a protest at Vijay Chowk on Friday. AICC general secretary Jairam Ramesh said the party will hold a meeting with other opposition leaders in the morning and would stage a protest march from Parliament House to Vijay Chowk. READ MORE

In 2013, at a press conference by senior Congress leader Ajay Maken, Rahul Gandhi suddenly walked in and tore an ordinance which the then UPA government was bringing in to overturn an earlier judgment and retain Section 8 (40 of the Representation of People’s Act) by which MPs and MLAs could not be disqualified for three months even if convicted.

BJP says it’s karma which has come back to bite Rahul Gandhi as he now faces disqualification as an MP. But apart from the legal battle he will have to fight — and a long one at that — what’s the road ahead? What’s it that Rahul Gandhi’s core team plans to do to counter the BJP narrative which has called the decision ‘Satyamev Jayate’. READ MORE

The sword of disqualification as an MP hangs over senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi after a Gujarat court sentenced him to two years in jail in a 2019 defamation case.

CNN-News18 spoke to legal experts to know what this means for the Congress leader. Amit Sharma, who represents the Election Commission of India in various cases, shared his legal opinion. “According to Section 8(3) of the Representation of the People’s Act, a person stands convicted as soon as a court pronounces a sentence of two years or more,” he said. READ MORE

• ▶During an address ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections in Karnataka, Rahul Gandhi made the remark, “How come all the thieves have Modi as the common surname?” The remark had sparked controversy back then, alleging defamation and a caste bias by several people.
• ▶Gujarat Minister and Surat West Bharatiya Janata Party MLA Purnesh Modi had filed a criminal defamation case against Rahul Gandhi over the remarks. After Surat court’s order on Thursday, Modi welcomed the verdict.
• ▶The final arguments resumed in the case last month after the Gujarat High Court vacated its stay on proceedings imposed on plea by the complainant demanding Gandhi’s personal appearance.
• ▶A case was lodged against Rahul Gandhi and a case was filed against him under Sections 499 and 500 (dealing with defamation) of the IPC. READ MORE

Madhya Pradesh Congress president Kamal Nath on Thursday said the entire country supports party leader Rahul Gandhi, who has been convicted in a criminal defamation case by a Gujarat court, and added that truth will ultimately prevail. READ MORE

The Congress has called a meeting of the opposition leaders on Friday at 10 am over the conviction of Rahul Gandhi by a Surat court in a defamation case. Speaking to reporters, Congress general secretary communications Jairam Ramesh said, “Over 50 MPs met at Mallikarjun Kharge’s house today. Tomorrow, at 10 am, he has called all opposition parties’ MPs for a meeting.” READ MORE