On Wednesday, March 29, the Lok Sabha membership of Lakshadweep MP Mohammed Faizal was restored. This comes only hours before the Supreme Court is set to hear his argument that the Lok Sabha secretariat failed to reinstate his membership despite the HC’s decision to stay his conviction. It is notable that the Kerala High Court suspended Faizal’s conviction on January 25.
According to the notification issued by the Lok Sabha Secretariat on Wednesday, the disqualification of the NCP MP ‘ceased to operate subject to further judicial pronouncements.
“In view of the order dated 25.01.2023 of the High Court of Kerala, the disqualification of Shri Mohammed Faizal P. P., notified vide Gazette Notification no. 21/4(1)/2023/TO(B) dated 13 January 2023 in terms of the provisions of Article 102(1)c) of the Constitution of India read with Section 8 of the Representation of the People Act, 1951, has ceased to operate subject to further judicial pronouncements”, the Lok Sabha Secretariat’s notification stated.
Notably, Mohammed Faizal was convicted by the sessions court in Kavaratti on January 11, 2023. The NCP MP was sentenced 10-year jail term. Following this, the Lok Sabha Secretariat issued a notification announcing MP Faizal’s disqualification.
The decision to disqualify the MP from the Lok Sabha was taken under the provisions of Article 102 (l) (e) of the Constitution, read with Section 8 of the Representation of the People Act, 1951. As per the law, the Parliament membership stands invalid from the day of conviction if an MP is convicted for a jail term of 2 or more years, as it happened recently in the case of Rahul Gandhi.
P.P Mohammed Faizal’s conviction, however, was stayed by the High Court on January 25. Following this, Faizal filed a petition before the Supreme Court through his lawyer KR Sasiprabhu the Lok Sabha Secretariat failed to withdraw the notification even after his conviction was stayed by the High Court on January 25. The matter is listed before a bench comprising Justice KM Joseph and Justice BV Nagarathna today (March 29).
It is pertinent to note that the Nationalist Congress Party MP along with three others was convicted for attempting to murder Mohammed Salih, the son-in-law of former Union Minister and Indian National Congress leader, PM Sayeed. The others convicted in the case are Sayed Mohammed Noorul Ameen and Faizal’s brothers Mohammed Hussain and Mohammed Basheer Thangal. Besides awarding a 10-year jail term, the court also fined the convicts Rs 1 lakh each for attempting to kill Mohammed Salih, son-in-law of late Congress leader and former Union Minister PM Sayeed, during the 2009 Lok Sabha polls.
