New Delhi: Lakshadweep MP Mohammed Faizal’s disqualification from the Lok Sabha was revoked Wednesday, just hours before the Supreme Court was to hear his plea that the membership was not restored despite his conviction in a criminal case being put on hold.
This development comes amid the ongoing row surrounding similar action faced by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi after a Gujarat court sentenced him to two years in jail.
ThePrint had reported that the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader was planning to approach the Supreme Court as the Lok Sabha Secretariat was not taking a decision, even after he along with senior leaders Sharad Pawar and Supriya Sule met Speaker Om Birla.
Faizal was stripped of his Lok Sabha membership after the district court of Kavaratti convicted him in an attempt to murder case on 11 January. The court sentenced Faizal to 10 years in prison. However, the Kerala High Court suspended his conviction and the sentence.
“In view of the order dated 25.01.2023 of the High Court of Kerala, the disqualification of Shri Mohammad Faizal P.P. notified vide gazette Notification no. 21/4(1)/2023/TO(B) dated the 13th January, 2023 in terms of the provisions of Article 102(1)(e) 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,” reads the Lok Sabha bulletin issued Wednesday.
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What Kerala HC said
On 25 January, the Kerala High Court stayed the conviction until Faizal’s appeal is settled, paving the way for him to enter Parliament again.
“Second petitioner, as mentioned above, was a serving member of Parliament from 2014 onwards till the date of his conviction i.e., 11-01-2023. The prosecution case relates to an incident that occurred 13 years ago, in 2009, when the second petitioner was not a Member of Parliament,” the high court said in its order.
If the conviction is not suspended, an election to the constituency would become inevitable, it said.
“If the election to the constituency of Lakshadweep is to be held immediately on account of the conviction and consequent disqualification of the second petitioner, the financial burden upon the government and indirectly on the people is immense,” the high court said, adding that the outcome cannot be ignored and that the case falls under the category of rare and exceptional situations warranting a suspension of the conviction.
Before going to the apex court, Faizal had claimed that the Lok Sabha Speaker was not showing any sign of revoking his membership.
“The HC has suspended my sentence and conviction. Now, my disqualification (from the Lok Sabha) also gets revoked. But the Lok Sabha Speaker is not issuing any order for my revocation,” he had told ThePrint. “There’s very much a political motivation. The Lok Sabha Speaker disqualified me within a day of the court’s order but is not ready to take a decision after my conviction was suspended.”
(Edited by Tony Rai)
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