Rahul Gandhi’s MP status restored: What this means, what next

What are the perks that will be restored for Rahul?

As an MP, Rahul is entitled to receive a salary of ₹1 lakh per month during his term in office. When Parliament is in session, an MP is entitled to an additional Rs 2,000 for each day.

MPs are also entitled to a travel allowance, which includes fee transit by railways. Other perks include medical facilities for the MP and family members, housing, telephone, water, and electricity.

The Salaries and Allowences of Members of Parliament Act, 1954 prescribes the range of benefits that an MP is entitled to.

As per the Housing and Telephone Facilities (Members of Parliament) Rules, 1956: “Each Member shall be entitled without payment of a licence fee] to housing accommodation in the form of a flat throughout his term of office: Provided that where a member is allotted housing accommodation in the form of bungalow at his request, he shall pay full normal licence fee if he is entitled to such accommodation].”

Before his disqualification, Rahul was designated an official residence at 12 Tughlak Lane in Delhi.

What happens next in the case?

On August 5, the Supreme Court stayed Rahul’s conviction and sentence awarded by Chief Judicial Magistrate HH Verma in Surat on March 23, 2023.

Before this, Rahul had moved the Sessions Court seeking a stay of the conviction. Under 389 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, an Appellate Court can suspend the sentence of a convicted person who is sentenced to imprisonment of not more than three years. The Sessions Court rejected the plea, prompting Rahul to move the HC, which also rejected the plea.

The SC’s stay essentially means that Rahul’s conviction will be kept in abeyance — as though it did not exist. However, this is only till the Appellate Court decides the case.

An appeal against the conviction is pending before the Surat Sessions Court.