Notification on Rahul Gandhi’s disqualification delayed till key bill passed
Hours after a Surat court convicted Congress leader Rahul Gandhi in a 2019 criminal defamation case, a preliminary discussion on the issue was held among top officials on Thursday evening pertaining to his disqualification from Lok Sabha, two functionaries said.
Hours after a Surat court convicted Congress leader Rahul Gandhi in a 2019 criminal defamation case, a preliminary discussion on the issue was held among top officials on Thursday evening pertaining to his disqualification from Lok Sabha, two functionaries said.
The Lower House was adjourned twice before the notification, signed by secretary general Utpal Kumar Singh, for Gandhi’s disqualification was issued. Gandhi was an MP from Wayanad in Kerala.
A government functionary claimed the notification was issued after the Finance Bill was passed to avoid major protests.
“It was better to issue the notification after the Finance Bill was passed and the House was adjourned,” the functionary said, seeking anonymity.
The Lok Sabha secretariat was waiting for a copy of the court’s judgment – a mandatory requirement – and according to officials, the secretariat received it on Friday morning.
“Once the court order was in hand, it was a simple process that took less than 30 minutes to prepare the file. If it was a case of disqualification under the Tenth Schedule, it would have been a marathon process,” the functionary said.
The second functionary said the decision-making was easy as there are two precedents in Lok Sabha and many such cases in the history of Parliament. “An institution such as Parliament relies a lot on precedents. In that regard too, we have records of past instances.”
