GG News Bureau
New Delhi, 29th March. Amid a major political uproar over Rahul Gandhi’s disqualification after a Gujarat court sentenced him to two years in prison, Lakshadweep MP Mohammed Faizal’s Lok Sabha membership was restored on Wednesday after his conviction in a criminal case was stayed.
According to sources, Rahul Gandhi’s legal team may use this example before a higher court to try to get his conviction overturned and his Lok Sabha membership restored.
Rahul Gandhi’s petition challenging his conviction by a court in Gujarat’s Surat may be filed today or tomorrow in a sessions court, sources said.
If the Election Commission announces dates for by-elections in Wayanad, the constituency left vacant by Rahul Gandhi’s disqualification, the Congress says it is prepared to go to court.
Mohammed Faizal, an MP from Sharad Pawar’s Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), was sentenced to ten years in prison for attempted murder. Following his conviction, he was automatically disqualified from sitting in parliament.
The Kerala High Court stayed the sentence in January.
More than two months after his sentence was stayed, Faisal challenged the Lok Sabha secretariat’s “unlawful action” in failing to withdraw his disqualification as an MP.
Faisal claims that a false case was filed against him in 2016 in connection with allegations of attempting to murder a relative of former Union Minister PM Sayeed during the 2009 elections.
In the midst of his trial, the NCP leader was elected to the Lok Sabha in 2019. On January 11, he and three others were sentenced to ten years in prison. The Lok Sabha Secretariat issued him a disqualification notice two days later.
The Election Commission announced on January 18 that polls for Faisal’s Lakshadweep seat would be held on January 27. The Kerala High Court suspended Faisal’s sentence two days before the election, forcing the Election Commission to postpone the byelection.
Sharad Pawar met with Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla on January 30 to request that his party leader’s disqualification be lifted.
If the Election Commission announces dates today, even before a decision on Rahul Gandhi’s challenge, the Congress is bracing for a legal battle in Wayanad.
According to the Representation of the People Act of 1951, anyone convicted of an offence and sentenced to imprisonment for two years or more stands disqualified.
The rule was invoked after Rahul Gandhi was found guilty in a defamation case involving his “Modi surname” comments by a Surat court.
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