Congress leaders Kamal Nath and Shashi Tharoor on Tuesday questioned the disqualification of party leader Rahul Gandhi as a Lok Sabha member following his conviction in a defamation case.
The two were talking to the media after participating in a seminar on "Protection and Upliftment of the Constitution" organised by the Madhya Pradesh unit of the All-India Professional Congress here.
Nath noted that the trial for criminal defamation was conducted in Gujarat over a statement made by Gandhi in Karnataka four years ago. He wanted to ask the lawyers present at the seminar whether the action taken against Gandhi was “bona fide or mala fide” (taken with good or bad intent), the Madhya Pradesh Congress chief said.
Tharoor said that Gandhi, in his statement at the election rally in Karnataka, had named three-four people, and it did not convey the meaning that all people with the surname `Modi' are thieves.
"Both the interpretations of Gandhi's statement should have been understood, and if at all any minimum punishment was to be awarded, he could have been given a warning that he should not repeat such action and the case should have been closed," he said.
But the court awarded Rahul Gandhi two years' jail term which was the maximum punishment for the offence and that was why he was disqualified as an MP, Tharoor said, adding that this was a very bad development. The Thiruvananthapuram MP also said that the statement in question had been made at an election rally where a lot of things are said.
“People say many things in an election speech. You all know what the BJP has said about me or Kamal Nath during elections,” he said.
