As the court vacates his defamation conviction, Rahul Gandhi returns to India's parliament.

Gandhi is the patriarch of India's most prominent political dynasty, and his reinstatement was applauded by members of the Congress party, which was once dominant but has lost the last two elections to Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

Gandhi's disqualification "has ceased to operate pending further judicial pronouncements," the secretary general of the lower house of parliament said in a statement.