New Delhi: On 13 January this year, Nationalist Congress Party leader P.P. Mohammed Faizal was sentenced to 10 years in jail in an attempted murder case. The case, which pertained to what the prosecution called a “politically motivated” assault, dated back to 2009.
As a consequence, Faizal, a Member of Parliament from Lakshadweep, stood immediately disqualified from Lok Sabha. Although his conviction has since been suspended by the Kerala High Court, he and his party are still fighting for it to be revoked and are even preparing to move the Supreme Court.
The case is of particular significance in light of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s disqualification from the Lok Sabha in a criminal defamation case.
On Thursday — a day after a Surat court convicted Gandhi and sentenced him to two years of jail — the Lok Sabha Secretariat issued a notification saying the Congress leader, an MP from Wayanad, stood disqualified from the date of his conviction.
Both disqualifications were under Article 102(1)(e) of the Constitution of India (Disqualification of MPs) read with Section 8 of the Representation of the People Act, 1951 — a provision of law that states that any person who’s convicted for a period of two years or more stands disqualified from Parliament for the period of the sentence and a further period of six years.
The Congress party has since said it would appeal the verdict.
But Faizal’s case shows that just a suspension of the guilty verdict may not be sufficient to get the disqualification revoked.
“There’s very much a political motivation,” Faizal, who’s prepared to move the Supreme Court if no decision is taken over his disqualification by Monday, told ThePrint about his case. “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”.
He added: “My leader, Supriya Sule, and I met the Lok Sabha speaker yesterday (Friday) and the Speaker has assured us of a decision on Monday. But if no decision is taken on Monday, there will be no option left but to go to the (Supreme) Court”.
Constitutional expert and former secretary general of the Lok Sabha P.D.T Achary said that disqualification arises out of conviction and sentencing.
“If the sentence is two years (and above), he will be disqualified,” he told ThePrint. “The court can only convict and give a sentence. Disqualification is an after-effect. When a person is convicted and sentenced, then the law will operate.”
ThePrint reached the Lok Sabha Speaker’s office and the Lok Sabha Secretariat for their comments by phone, email, and text messages. This report will be updated when a response is received.
What happened
On 11 January, the district court of Kavaratti found then Lakshadweep MP Faisal and three others guilty of attacks on Mohammad Salih, son-in-law of the former Union minister P.M. Sayeed, during the 2009 General Election. The court sentenced Faisal to 10 years in prison in the case.
On 13 January, the Lok Sabha’s Ethics Committee decided to disqualify the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) MP.
Lok Sabha’s bulletin on the subject read: “Consequent upon his conviction by the Court of Sessions, Kavaratti, Lakshadweep Mohammed Faizal, Member of Lok Sabha representing the Lakshadweep Parliamentary Constituency of the Union Territory of Lakshadweep, stands disqualified from the membership of Lok Sabha from the date of his conviction i.e. 11 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.”
However, on 25 January, the Kerala High Court stayed the conviction and suspended the conviction until Faisal’s appeal is settled.
In its order, the court noted: “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”.
If the conviction is not suspended, an election to the constituency would become inevitable, the court order 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 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 the court issued the order, the Election Commission of India had issued a notification for bye-elections for the Lakshadweep parliamentary constituency. But it was eventually taken back after Faisal moved SC, which refused to stay the HC order.
What next for Faizal
Faizal told ThePrint that he and NCP chief Sharad Pawar had met the Lok Sabha Speaker, Om Birla, in January after the HC’s order. The Speaker, he said, had told them then that he would seek legal opinions.
But no decision has been taken since.
“I’m very much a member of the Lok Sabha from Lakshadweep,” he said. “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.”
Former Lok Sabha secretary general P.D.T. Achary told ThePrint the disqualification from Parliament gets revoked as soon as a higher court stays a conviction.
He added: “Earlier, MPs had a three-month window and disqualification didn’t take effect (during that time). That was knocked down by the Supreme Court Lily Thomas (2013). Now, this benefit of three months is gone. That means disqualification will immediately follow.”
The former civil servant was referring to the 2013 landmark case, Lily Thomas vs the Union of India and Others.
In that case, the court held the three-month window for MPs under Section 8 (4) of the Representation of the People Act unconstitutional, saying that Indian Constitution was unequivocal on immediate disqualification.
Achary added that in the case of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, “if the Supreme Court reduces the sentence, then the disqualification will not come into effect”.
(Edited by Uttara Ramaswamy)
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