On March 23, 2023, a Magistrate in Gujarat convicted Mr Rahul Gandhi of the offence of defamation (Section 499, IPC) and imposed a sentence of imprisonment of 2 years.
The anguish expressed by the Supreme Court illustrates the plight of the law caught in the middle between overbearing investigating agencies and an indulgent subordinate judiciary (with notable exceptions).
Rahul Gandhi may not be the most skillful politician, but it is hard to see him as a criminal who deserves to have his entire political career ended because he made a silly speech.
Union Ministers Dharmendra Pradhan and Anurag Thakur, who addressed the media at the BJP headquarters, said Gandhi’s disqualification was a natural outcome of the law since it had been made clear that a lawmaker would stand disqualified from the time of conviction.