Lucknow (Uttar Pradesh) [India]: Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav has congratulated Rahul Gandhi after Congress leader’s Lok Sabha membership was restored today.
“As far as the Congress leaders and Rahul Gandhi are concerned, I would like to congratulate them on the restoration of the membership. I also congratulate the Supreme Court. After this decision, the faith in democracy and the courts has increased,” said SP chief.
Lok Sabha Secretariat on Monday restored the membership of Rahul Gandhi after the Supreme Court on August 4 stayed his conviction in the ‘Modi’ surname remark case.
The Congress leader who was disqualified from the lower house in March 2023 was reinstated as the Wayanad MP.
The Gujarat High Court, had, in its order earlier, declined to stay his conviction in the criminal defamation case in which Rahul was sentenced to two years in jail by the Surat court over the ‘Modi surname’ remark.
A Supreme Court bench headed by Justice BR Gavai said no reason has been given by the trial court judge for imposing maximum sentence, and “order of conviction needs to be stayed pending final adjudication”.
When the offence is non-cognisable, bailable, or compoundable, the trial judge is expected to give reasons for imposing maximum sentence, it added.
Not only was Gandhi’s right to continue in public life affected but also that of the electorate who elected him, the bench observed.
Also, the bench also said there was no doubt that the utterances of Gandhi were “not in good taste” and “person in public life expected to exercise caution while making public speeches”.
