Rahul Gandhi of the Congress party was disqualified on being convicted and sentenced to two years imprisonment in a 2019 defamation case. The disqualification was instant because of the Supreme Court of India’s judgment in Lily Thomas vs Union of India (2013). Through this judgment, the Court invalidated Section 8(4) of the Representation of People Act 1951, which had allowed a three-month period within which to appeal. Disqualification was not to take effect during this period; when the appeal is admitted, disqualification would depend on the final outcome of the appeal.
Thus, under the legal provision cited, there was no instant disqualification of sitting members of the legislature. But after the Court struck down this provision of the Representation of People Act 1951, according to the opinion of some experts, a sitting legislator is disqualified the moment the court orders conviction and sentence under Section 8(3) of the Representation of People Act. The top court said that Article 102(1) does not create any difference between the sitting member and a candidate so far as disqualification is concerned. It held that Parliament has no power to grant exemption to sitting members for three months and thus struck down Section 8(4) as ultra vires the Constitution.
