Congress leader in the Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury on April 4 wrote to Speaker Om Birla to have a debate on the disqualification of party leader Rahul Gandhi.
In his two-page letter, Mr. Chowdhury pointed out that Bharatiya Janata Party leader Naranbhai Kachhadiya did not face the same action and continued to be a Lok Sabha member after he was convicted in a case on April 13, 2016, when a district court gave him a three-year sentence.
“Shri Kachhadiya preferred an appeal to the High Court and the Hon’ble High Court on April 18, 2016 declined to stay the conviction. However, the Hon’ble High Court allowed suspension of the sentence. As per the provisions of Section 8 of the Representation of the People Act 1951, Shri Kachhadiya should have been disqualified from the membership of the House; however, the then Hon’ble Speaker did not resort to any action (including disqualification) against the Hon’ble Member,” Mr. Chowdhury said in his letter. Later, Mr. Kachhadiya got relief from the Supreme Court.
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He said it was “intriguing” to note that Mr. Gandhi was “summarily disqualified” from the Lok Sabha in the wake of a verdict by a Surat court, even though his two-year sentence was suspended by the same court for a period of one month to facilitate his appeal in higher courts.
“Sir, I am begging your indulgence to spell out the fact that under Section 8 of the Representation of Peoples Act 1951, two conditions are to be met before disqualifying an elected member. First the member has to be awarded conviction for an offence and second, he has to be sentenced to imprisonment for not less than two years,” the Congress leader said.
He said before disqualifying the elected member, these two conditions are considered as prerequisites. “In my view, the second condition cannot stand the test of the prescribed provision of Representation of People Act as the sentence of Shri Rahul Gandhi ji was suspended by the trial court itself,” he noted.
Arguing that “what is sauce for the goose must be sauce for the gander”, Mr. Chowdhury wrote,”With heavy heart and mortification, I plead to you that there should be a debate in Parliament as to ascertain whether our leader Shri Rahul Gandhi ji has been awarded disproportionate punishment, which smacks of cognitive dissonance.”
