Understand what was the action taken on Indira Gandhi
Before comparing the case with Rahul Gandhi, let us understand what was the case against former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi in the year 1975 after which she was disqualified. Nearly 50 years ago, Rahul Gandhi’s grandmother and former Prime Minister of the country Indira Gandhi was disqualified by the Allahabad High Court after finding her guilty of misuse of government machinery and electoral corruption in the 1971 elections. After this his MP had gone. However, this decision was later challenged by Indira in the Supreme Court. Accepting the argument of Indira Gandhi’s lawyer, the apex court had given instructions to keep the Lok Sabha membership of the former prime minister intact. Means the decision of the Allahabad High Court was overturned by the Supreme Court of the country. This decision on Indira Gandhi later became a witness to the Emergency imposed on June 26, 1975.
When the verdict was about to come on Indira, the court hall was packed
In the year 1971 Rae Bareli Loksabha election. At that time, Indira had defeated Rajnarayan, the candidate of the Samyukta Socialist Party, by a huge margin. Indira’s victory was challenged by Rajnarayan in the Allahabad High Court. After this the trial went on for 5 years. On June 12, 1975, the Allahabad High Court was about to give its verdict on this. Room number 24 of the High Court was packed. It was the first time in the history of India when a Prime Minister stood in the court. The question-answer session lasted for 5 hours. In the end, Justice Sinha, who gave the verdict, disqualified Indira Gandhi without coming under any pressure. There was a hearing on 7 cases against Indira Gandhi that day, in which she got relief in 5 cases, while she was found guilty in the remaining 2 cases.
Indira Gandhi later challenged the Allahabad High Court’s decision in the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court ruled to retain his Lok Sabha membership. Emergency was imposed in India only 13 days after this. Opposition leaders were jailed along with the freedom of the press. Anyone who raised his voice against the government was arrested.
Understand the matter of Rahul Gandhi
Talking about the Rahul Gandhi case, the former MP had said from a forum that all Modis are thieves. Gujarat’s BJP leader Purnesh Modi filed a defamation case in Surat court. After 2019, in the year 2023, the court of Surat convicted Rahul Gandhi and sentenced him to 2 years. However, Rahul’s sentence has been suspended for 30 days. After this, Rahul has a chance that he can first go against the sentence in the Sessions Court, High Court and later in the Supreme Court. It is also important to know the rule after that. As per the rule, if any MP is punished for 2 years or more, then his membership of the House ends immediately. Same has happened with Rahul Gandhi. However, the crackdown on Rahul has given a voice to the opposition. Many opposition parties including Congress are against this action taken on Rahul. They say that the Modi government wants to bring dictatorial rule in the country and the voice of democracy is being suppressed. Priyanka Gandhi is also shocked by the action taken on Rahul. He even directly called PM Modi a coward.
understand the difference between the two cases
Here in both the cases the membership of the house has been taken away after the decision of the court. This is what happened in the case of Rahul and Indira Gandhi. Where is the difference then? The difference is that in the Indira Gandhi case, when the Allahabad High Court gave its verdict, she went to the Supreme Court to challenge it. Later, the apex court overturned the Allahabad court’s decision on him. Here in the case of Rahul Gandhi, the Magistrate Court of Surat in Gujarat has just given its verdict. Now Rahul has to go to the Sessions Court, High Court and Supreme Court. It has to be seen what decision the court gives there. At the same time, after the decision of the Surat court, under the Lok Sabha Act 1951, Rahul’s Lok Sabha membership has gone away. If Rahul does not get further relief from the courts, then he will not be able to contest elections for 6 years, the most important of which is the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. On the other hand, in the case of Indira Gandhi, the Supreme Court upheld her Lok Sabha membership, reversing the decision. After winning again in the subsequent by-election, he had entered the House but Rahul would not be able to do so.