New Delhi: On Friday, the Supreme Court denied a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) that contested Congressleader Rahul Gandhi’s reinstatement in the Lok Sabha and assessed the petitioner a fee of Rs 1 100,000.A court led by Justice BR Gavai declared that the petition constituted an abuse of the legal system because the petitioner’s fundamental rights had not been infringed. Ashok Pandey, an advocate, filed a suit with the top court contesting Gandhi’s reinstatement as a member.
Gandhi’s membership was reinstated by the Lok Sabha Secretariat following the Supreme Court’s August 4 stay of his conviction in connection with a comment he made regarding the surname “Modi.” The Congress leader was re-instated as Wayanad MP after being disqualified from the lower house in March 2023. Gandhi’s remark during an April 13, 2019, election rally in Kolar, Karnataka, “How come all thieves have Modi as the common surname?” prompted BJP leader Purnesh Modi to bring a criminal defamation complaint against Gandhi in 2019.
