New Delhi: The Supreme Court Friday deferred hearing on a PIL filed by a Lucknow-based lawyer challenging the restoration of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s Lok Sabha membership.
“The matter is adjourned in terms of the letter circulated,” said a bench of Justices B.R. Gavai and Prashant Kumar Mishra in view of the letter circulated by the petitioner– Ashok Pandey – seeking adjournment.
In his plea, Pandey contended that once a member of Parliament or a state legislature loses his office by operation of law, he will continue to be disqualified till he is acquitted from the charges levelled against him.
He prayed the Constitution Bench to decide as to whether on the basis of a stay of conviction, a person who has suffered disqualification by operation of law, will become qualified to be chosen as or for being, a member of Parliament or state legislature.
The Supreme Court October 20 had imposed costs of Rs 1 lakh on the same petitioner for filing a similar “frivolous” PIL challenging restoration of Lok Sabha membership of Lakshadweep MP Mohammed Faizal.
“You are an advocate and filing such frivolous petitions. You should think ten times before filing such petitions,” had remarked the top court.
The very same advocate was earlier reprimanded by a bench headed by Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud with a cost of Rs 5 lakh for filing a petition against the Chief Justice of Bombay High Court for allegedly not using “I” while being administered oath.
In August, the Supreme Court stayed the conviction of Rahul Gandhi in the ‘Modi surname’ defamation case, which had cost him his Lok Sabha membership, saying that no reasons were given by the trial judge for imposing the maximum punishment of two years in the case.
Following the apex court’s stay order, the Lok Sabha Secretariat restored his membership in Parliament August 7.
Rahul Gandhi was disqualified as an MP in March this year after a Surat court convicted him and sentenced him to two years in prison for his “How come all thieves have Modi as the common surname” remark made during an election rally in Karnataka in April 2019.
His remark was interpreted as an attempt to draw an implicit connection between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and fugitive businessmen Nirav Modi and Lalit Modi.
