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Lucknow News: Lucknow bench of Allahabad High Court rejected the petition challenging Rahul Gandhi’s MP. The High Court said in its order that the Supreme Court has put a stay in the case of Surat Court sentencing Rahul Gandhi to two years imprisonment. Therefore the merits of the petition have expired.
The court said in its order that the Supreme Court has already given a stay on the decision of Gujarat’s Surat court to sentence Rahul Gandhi to two years in prison in the 2019 criminal defamation case. For this reason, the condition of loss of qualification under Section 8(3) of the Representation of the People Act, 1951 does not apply. The court said, “There is no restriction on Rahul Gandhi from contesting elections or being an MP due to the stay order of the Supreme Court.”
This argument was given in the petition
The petition was filed by Lucknow’s local advocate Ashok Pandey. It was demanded that Rahul Gandhi’s membership from Rae Bareli should be canceled as his eligibility had expired after the decision of Surat Court. The High Court rejected the petition as baseless and did not impose any penalty on the petitioner. It is noteworthy that in March 2023, the Magistrate Court of Surat had sentenced Rahul Gandhi to two years imprisonment on the statement regarding ‘Modi surname’, after which his Lok Sabha membership was automatically lost. However, the Supreme Court had postponed the sentencing in August 2023 itself.
Big relief to Rahul
He won the Rae Bareli seat in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. This decision of the High Court is being considered as another legal relief for Rahul Gandhi. Petitioner Ashok Pandey told the media outside the court that he is considering appealing against this decision in the Supreme Court.
