(The latter part of the piece sheds light on the legal remedies available to Rahul Gandhi now that he has been disqualified from parliament. This was orginally published on 23 March with the headline: Rahul Sentenced to 2 Yrs in Jail: Will He Be Barred from Parliament, 2024 Polls? and is being re-published in light of him losing his parliament membership.)
A Gujarat trial court on Thursday, 23 March, sentenced Congress leader Rahul Gandhi to two years in jail in connection with a 2019 criminal defamation case against him.
The case: According to Bar and Bench, Gandhi had allegedly said:
"Nirav Modi, Lalit Modi, Narendra Modi. How come all the thieves have 'Modi' as a common surname?"
In the aftermath of this, Gujarat Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA Purnesh Modi filed the criminal defamation case against him.
For now, the Congress leader has been granted bail to enable him to move an appeal against his conviction within 30 days.
After the order, he quoted Mahatma Gandhi on Twitter and said, "My religion is based on truth and non-violence. Truth is my God, non-violence the means to get it."
Meanwhile, Supreme Court Lawyer Paras Nath Singh told The Quint that although, he hadn’t seen the order yet, “Gandhi’s conviction in the case seemed strange since convictions in defamation cases are usually rare and a two year sentence is usually not awarded.”
But, as speculation continues, can the Wayanad MP’s conviction in the case lead to him losing his Lok Sabha membership? If yes, when will his disqualification take effect? And will he be able to contest the 2024 general elections? We spoke to legal experts to find out.