NEW DELHI: Indian opposition leader Rahul Gandhi has been disqualified from Parliament as a result of his conviction for defamation, the national legislature said in a notice on Friday.
“Rahul Gandhi … is ineligible to be a member of the Lok Sabha from the date of his conviction,” the notice said.
The decision by the Lok Sabha, the lower house of India’s legislature, came a day after Gandhi was found guilty of defamation for a 2019 election campaign remark that implied Prime Minister Narendra Modi was a criminal.
Modi’s government has been widely accused of using the law to target and silence critics, and several cases have been filed against his main opponent in recent years in the prime minister’s home state of Gujarat.
Gandhi, the leading face of the opposition Congress party, was sentenced to two years in prison but was immediately granted bail after his lawyers announced their intention to appeal.
Congress spokesman Akhilesh Pratap Singh confirmed to JEE News that his party had received the notice.
