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Rahul Gandhi has been sentenced to two years imprisonment by Gujarat's Surat district court in a criminal defamation case filed over his 'Modi surname' remark.

However, later Rahul Gandhi got bail from the court, but now his parliament membership hangs in the balance.

Actually, the membership of Parliament can be canceled on the punishment of two years or more in a criminal case.

According to legal experts, Rahul Gandhi may be at risk of being disqualified from Parliament after serving two years in jail. 

However, Rahul Gandhi has been granted bail and his sentence has been suspended for 30 days to give him a chance to appeal against the verdict in a higher court.

Following the court order, he is at risk of being disqualified as a member of parliament under the law.

Section 8(3) of the Representation of the People Act, 1951 states that as soon as a Member of Parliament is convicted of an offense and sentenced to imprisonment for a term of at least two years, he becomes liable to disqualification. 

According to experts, on the basis of the Surat court's order, the Lok Sabha Secretariat can disqualify Rahul Gandhi and declare his Wayanad seat vacant.

After this, the Election Commission will announce the special election for the seat.

However, this scenario will be seen when the sentence is not stayed by the High Court.

If the decision is not set aside by a High Court, Rahul Gandhi will also not be allowed to contest elections for the next eight years.

According to Rahul Gandhi's team, the Congress leader is planning to challenge the decision in the High Court.

If the appeal for suspension of sentence and stay on the order is not accepted there, they will approach the Supreme Court.

Experts also said that the two-year sentence in a criminal defamation case under Section 499 of the Indian Penal Code, under which Rahul Gandhi has been convicted, is extremely rare.