NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Friday stayed the conviction of senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi in a 2019 defamation case over his 'Modi'surname remark. This comes as a major relief for the reinstatement of his Lok Sabha membership which had been rescinded and he feared the risk of being disqualified to contest further elections.

Supreme Court's three-judge bench consisting of Justices B R Gavai, P S Narasimha and Sanjay Kumar which heard Gandhi's plea challenging the Gujarat High Court's order which had refused to stay his conviction by a lower court in Surat said that the trial court judge while convicting Gandhi had given no reason for convicting him and awarding him the maximum punishment of two years.

Although the bench admonished Gandhi saying that his remarks at a public function were in bad taste and that he should have been more careful while making public speech, it noted that had the sentence been a day lesser, provisions of the electoral law that envisaged automatic disqualification of an MLA or MP sentenced to two years in jail would not have been attracted, particularly when an offence is non-cognisable, bailable and compoundable. 

The bench said, "It is to be noted only on account of this maximum sentence imposed by the trial judge, provisions of sub-section (3) of Section 8 of the Representation of the People Act have come into play. The least the trial court judge expected was to give some reasons to impose a maximum sentence. Though appellate court and the high court have spent voluminous pages rejecting stay on conviction, these aspects are not considered in their orders."

With this order, the Lok Sabha speaker can now consider reviving his membership on his own or Gandhi can approach him with the apex court order, seeking restoration of his status as an MP. Talking to reporters after the apex courts order Congress party's leader in Lok Sabha, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury said that they have met speaker Om Birla and have urged him to reinstate Gandhi at the earliest.

Meanwhile, jubilant party workers welcomed Gandhi with great fanfare and he along with Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge party leader Abhishek Manu Singhvi and Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury addressed the media during which he said truth alone triumphs, if not today then tomorrow or the day after. 

Kharge said, while it took just 24 hours to disqualify Rahul Gandhi from the Lok Sabha after his conviction in a defamation case, it is to be seen how long will it take to reinstate him after the Supreme Court relief.