After being convicted in the court, a petition was filed against the end of the MP-legislature, this demand was made
In the defamation case on Modi surname, Rahul Gandhi was sentenced by the Surat court and the very next day he was disqualified from the Lok Sabha membership. Now a petition has been moved in the Supreme Court on Saturday, demanding that elected representatives of legislative institutions should not be automatically disqualified after being found guilty.
What is the demand in the petition?
The petition filed in the Supreme Court challenges the constitutional validity of Section 8(3) of the Representation of the People Act, which automatically disqualifies a representative from the legislative body if found guilty by the court in any case.
The petitioner, Abha Muraleedharan sought a declaration that the automatic disqualification under Section 8(3) of the Representation of the People Act, 1951 being arbitrary and illegal, was beyond the powers vested under the Constitution. The petition claimed that the automatic disqualification of elected public representatives from legislative bodies prevents them from “independently discharging the duties entrusted to them by the voters of their constituencies, which is against the principles of democracy”. The Centre, the Election Commission, the Rajya Sabha Secretariat and the Lok Sabha Secretariat have been made parties.
Why did Rahul Gandhi lose his membership?
According to Section 8(3) of the Representation of the People Act, 1951, if a leader is sentenced to two years or more, he is debarred from contesting elections for a further six years from the date of his conviction. There is provision. If someone is an MLA or an MP, he is disqualified if convicted. He has to leave his MLA or MP.
Under this rule, Rahul’s membership went away. Senior Supreme Court advocate Ashwini Upadhyay says that the Surat court which sentenced Rahul has given Rahul a month’s time to file a petition in the sessions court against the verdict. Till then there is a stay on Rahul’s sentence, which means he will be saved from going to jail during this period.
