Plea in Supreme Court against disqualification of legislators upon conviction

Rahul Gandhi addressed the media on his disqualification. Pic/ANI

A day after Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's disqualification from Parliament, a petition has been moved in the Supreme Court challenging the validity of provisions mandating "blanket and automatic" disqualification of legislators upon conviction and sentence.

The plea, filed by advocate Deepak Prakash on behalf of Aabha Muralidharan, prayed that automatic disqualification under Section 8 (3) of the Representation of People Act (RPA), 1951, should be declared as ultra vires of the Constitution, for being arbitrary, illegal and violative of fundamental right to equality. The petitioner, a social worker from Malappuram, sought a direction that automatic disqualification did not exist under Section 8 (3) of the RPA, while citing Gandhi's disqualification as an MP on Friday by the Lok Sabha Secretariat.

Also Read: Fight for democracy will go on, disqualified for life or jailed: Rahul Gandhi

Meanwhile, Congress MP Shashi Tharoor called Gandhi's disqualification "own goal' by BJP and that "in the end, the issue was going to be beneficial for the opposition parties and to Gandhi". In her tweets, BSP supremo Mayawati took a swipe at both the Congress and the BJP, saying political malice and hatred had not benefited the country in the past and neither will in the future.

She said the Congress must think whether what happened during the Emergency in 1975 and what is happening now with its leader Rahul Gandhi are justified. JD-U national president Lalan Singh claimed that the country is facing an "emergency-like" situation. Union minister Anurag Thakur said Gandhi is resorting to ‘gimmicks' for ‘cheap popularity'. CM Himanta Biswa Sarma said he is facing the consequences of being arrogant instead of apologising for his remarks.

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