File photo of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and MP Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury | Photo Credit: PTI
Congress leader in Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhary wrote a letter to Speaker Om Birla on April 4 asking him to debate on it. Disqualification of party leader Rahul Gandhi,
In his two-page letter, Mr. Chowdhary has listed out the various norms adopted by the Chair for the delay in the case of the sitting member from Amreli (Gujarat) and Bharatiya Janata Party leader Naranbhai Kachadia Which was sentenced to three years in 2016.
“Mr. Kachadia appealed to the High Court and the Hon’ble High Court refused to stay the conviction on 18th April, 2016. However, the Hon’ble High Court allowed suspension of sentence. As per the provisions of section 8 of the Representation of the People As per the Act 1951, Mr Kachhadia 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 Chowdhary said in his letter.
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He said it was “interesting” to note that Gandhi was “summarily disqualified” from the Lok Sabha in the wake of the two-year prison sentence awarded by a Surat court. His sentence was suspended by the same court for a period of one month, which facilitated their appeal to the higher courts.
“Sir, I request you to clarify the fact that under Section 8 of the Representation of the People Act, 1951, two conditions have to be fulfilled before an elected member can be disqualified. The first member must be convicted of an offense should be convicted and secondly he should be punished with imprisonment of at least two years,” the Congress leader said.
He said that these two conditions are considered as pre-requisites before disqualifying an elected member. He said, “In my view, the second condition cannot stand the test of the prescribed provision of the Representation of the People Act as the sentence of Mr. Rahul Gandhi was suspended by the trial court itself.”
Arguing that “what is sauce for the goose, there must be sauce for the gander,” Mr. Chowdhary wrote, “with a heavy heart and mortification I request you that there should be a debate in Parliament so that this fact can be ascertained.” It is to be ascertained whether our leader Shri Rahul Gandhi ji has been given disproportionate punishment, which smacks of cognitive dissonance or equality before law, which all elected members get.”