Supreme Court Allows Mohammed Faizal To Continue As MP, Stays Kerala HC Order Which Refused To Suspend Conviction
The Supreme Court on Monday (09.10.2023) stayed the recent order of the Kerala High Court passed on October 3rd, refusing to suspend the conviction of disqualified Lakshadweep MP Mohammed Faizal, of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP),in a case of attempt to murder.A bench of Justice Hrishikesh Roy and Justice Sanjay Karol also said that the order dated 22nd August of the Supreme Court, in...
The Supreme Court on Monday (09.10.2023) stayed the recent order of the Kerala High Court passed on October 3rd, refusing to suspend the conviction of disqualified Lakshadweep MP Mohammed Faizal, of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP),in a case of attempt to murder.
A bench of Justice Hrishikesh Roy and Justice Sanjay Karol also said that the order dated 22nd August of the Supreme Court, in which the Court had ordered that the benefit of suspension of conviction to continue while the matter was remanded to the High Court, thus permitting the Mohammed Faizal to continue as a Member of Parliament (MP) representing Lakshadweep, will become operational. The Court also issued notice returnable in 4 weeks in Faizal's plea.
"In the meantime, the operation of the impugned order dated 03.10.2023 of the High Court is stayed. In consequence, the interim order passed in favour of the Petitioner by this Court in remand order dated 22.08.2023, is made operational", the Court dictated in its order.
Additional Solicitor General KM Natraj strongly opposed the grant of interim order.
Sr. Adv. Kapil Sibal appearing for Faizal argued that the FIR was later modified to include an iron rod as the murder weapon at a later stage, after Faizal was elected as MP. "The whole story changes years later after he becomes MP. I argued this matter before the High Court, but it was not considered. This is a fight between congress and NCP. All witnesses are Congress workers. The sessions judge found that there are no independent witnesses..They first came and attacked me and they have been convicted..."
Sibal argued that in the FIR no weapon was mentioned in the hand of the petitioner. But subsequently, an iron rod was introduced as a weapon of assault in the hand of the petitioner in the FIR. He also informed the Court that at the time of the incident, on 16.04.2009, the petitioner was a political worker but since then he has been elected as a member of parliament in 2014 and 2019 and his term will expire in May 2024. He contended that the Lakshadweep constituency that the petitioner represents should not be allowed to go unrepresented, which is one of the reasons why the stay of the conviction of the petitioner should have been favorably considered by the High Court.
"...the assailants and the injured belong to rival political parties and there was a prior incident of attack on the petitioner's group, which lead to the conviction of the assailants on the order side" the Court recorded while staying the High Court order.
Shortly after the Kerala High Court verdict on 03.10.2023, Faizal had been disqualified from the Parliament. “In view of order dated 03.10.2023 of the Hon’ble High Court of Kerala, Shri Mohammed Faizal P.P., 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. 11th January, 2023,” a Lok Sabha Secretariat bulletin stated.
It was on January 11 this year that Faizal and three others were convicted and sentenced to imprisonment for ten years by the Kavaratti Sessions Court under sections 143, 147, 148, 448, 427, 324, 342, 307 and 506 r/w section 149 of the Indian Penal Code for attempting to kill Mohammed Salih, son-in-law of former Union Minister P M Sayeed, during the 2009 Lok Sabha polls. Mohammed Faizal was elected as a Member of the Parliament in the year 2014 and again in 2019. Against the punishment, the Mohammed Faizal and others had approached the Kerala High Court.
Initially, on January 25, the Kerala High Court had suspended the conviction and sentence imposed on Faizal. Against the order of suspension of conviction, the Union Territory of Lakshadweep and the complainant had approached the Supreme Court.
The Supreme Court by order dated August 22, 2023 remanded the matter back to the High Court for reconsidering the suspension of conviction within a period of six weeks. The Supreme Court was critical of the High Court's approach in taking into consideration the costs of bye-election which would be necessitated if the conviction is not suspended. “We find that the High Court ought to have considered the application seeking the suspension of conviction in its proper perspective covering all aspects bearing in mind the relevant judgments rendered by this Court and in accordance with law,” the Apex Court had said.
The Apex Court had ordered that the benefit of suspension of conviction to continue while the matter was remanded to the High Court, thus permitting the Mohammed Faizal to continue as a Member of Parliament (MP) representing Lakshadweep.
Subsequently on 3rd October, a single bench of Justice N Nagaresh of the Kerala High Court while hearing the matter afresh, refused suspension of his conviction.
"Criminalisation of election process is of grave concern in our democratic polity. The tentacles of political crimes and criminalisation of election process have started grappling free and fair elections. Incidents of criminal acts being committed even during meeting of legislative bodies are surfacing. Proliferation of crime in election process could garner momentum to cripple Indian democracy, if men with criminal background are allowed to continue to be part of the democratic system. If persons with criminal antecedents are permitted to continue as Members of Parliament / Legislatures even after conviction by a competent court, that would only send wrong signals to public at large." the High Court observed in the second round of consideration.
Case Title: Mohammed Faizal V U.T Administration of Lakshadweep, SLP(Crl) No. 12819/2023