The Supreme Court on Friday dismissed a PIL challenging the restoration of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's Lok Sabha membership and imposed a cost of Rs 1 lakh on the petitioner.

A bench headed by Justice BR Gavai said the petition is abuse of the process of law as no fundamental right of the petitioner has been violated. The top court was hearing a plea filed by advocate Ashok Pandey challenging restoration of Gandhi's membership.

The Lok Sabha Secretariat had restored Gandhi's membership after the Supreme Court on August 4 stayed his conviction in case related to a remark on the 'Modi' surname.

The Congress leader, who was disqualified from the lower house in March 2023, was reinstated as Wayanad MP.

BJP leader Purnesh Modi had filed a criminal defamation case against Gandhi in 2019 over his "How come all thieves have Modi as the common surname?" remark made during an election rally in Kolar in Karnataka on April 13, 2019.

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