Supreme Court Sets Aside Order Suspending Conviction Of Lakshadweep MP Mohammed Faizal; Asks Kerala HC To Decide Afresh

The Supreme Court on Tuesday set aside an order of the Kerala High Court suspending the conviction of Lok Sabha MP Mohammed Faizal in an attempt to murder case and asked the High Court to take a fresh decision within six weeks.Even while remitting the matter to the high court, a bench comprising Justices BV Nagarathna and Ujjal Bhuyan held that the benefit of the suspension of conviction will continue till the high court disposes of the application, enabling the Nationalist Congress Party leader to continue as a Member of Parliament (MP) representing Lakshadweep.During the last hearing, the Justice Nagarathna-led bench had expressed doubts over the high court’s reason for suspending the parliamentarian’s conviction, asking whether a conviction and sentence could be held in abeyance only on the ground of the enormous monetary loss caused to the exchequer in organising this administrative exercise and had mulled over the idea of remitting the matter to the Kerala High Court to be considered afresh. Today, the Justice Nagarathna-led bench reiterated its earlier concerns, observing that the high court "had not considered the true position of law with respect to the manner in which an application for a stay on conviction must be considered", with the thrust of its focus on the prospect of conducting a fresh election and the concomitant expenses. This, the Supreme Court said, should not have been the sole factor to suspend the conviction. The bench said that the high court ought to have considered the application in its proper perspective and bearing in mind various judgments of the top court, while setting aside the Kerala High Court's order staying Faizal's conviction -"On this short ground alone, we set aside the impugned order and remand the matter to the high court for reconsideration of the application seeking a suspension of conviction. However, we find that from the date of this order staying his conviction till date, the respondent has continued as a Member of Parliament and has, in that capacity, discharged all his duties. Since we are remanding the matter for reconsideration, at this stage, it would not be just and proper to create a vacuum, especially since we are requesting the high court to reconsider his application within a period of six weeks." This verdict was delivered by the bench after hearing the pleas by the administration of the Union Territory of Lakshadweep and the complainant who accused the parliamentarian of attempting to murder him. Both the UT administration and the private complainant approached the Supreme Court challenging the January 25 order of a single-judge bench of the Kerala High Court suspending Faizal’s conviction and sentence.Senior Advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi represented Faizal. The complainant was represented by Senior Advocate Menaka Guruswamy. Additional Solicitor General for India KM Nataraj appeared for the UT administration.Courtroom exchangeDuring the hearing today, Singhvi initially objected to the idea of remitting Faizal's application to the Kerala High Court to be considered afresh, saying that such an order would have 'severe consequences' for the parliamentarian. However, after noting the bench's inclination to give effect to what it had earlier proposed, the senior counsel requested the benefit of the high court's order to be extended till the disposal of the application for a stay on conviction - "In the unlikely event that this court does not agree with me, Your Lordships should direct a time-bound remand while allowing him to continue in Parliament. The consequence, otherwise, would be his disqualification from the Parliament. Now the elections are coming. He will be out permanently. It should be kept in mind that he is an elective representative of the people who has succeeded in securing an order in his favour that stayed his conviction. He is also not the petitioner in this case, but the respondent. There is equity on our side. If he is allowed to continue as an MP, how will that harm anybody?"The Parliament is not currently in session and will not be till November, Justice Nagarathna pointed out, as she suggested requesting the high court to decide the application before November."Let him continue as a Member of Parliament till November then," Singhvi urged, before adding that Faizal was a member of a number of parliamentary committees and discharges many duties as a representative of his constituency even during the interregnum between two parliamentary sessions. The senior counsel drew support from the Supreme Court recently deciding to issue a stay on the conviction of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi in a criminal defamation case over his 'Modi surname' remark. In this case, a three-judge bench headed by Justice BR Gavai had granted the then-disqualified MP relief after acknowledging, among other things, the effect on not just Gandhi's right to continue in public life, but also the right of the electorate who voted him into power to...

Supreme Court Sets Aside Order Suspending Conviction Of Lakshadweep MP Mohammed Faizal; Asks Kerala HC To Decide Afresh

Awstika Das

The Court has however enabled Faizal to continue as an MP by allowing the benefit of suspension of conviction to remain in operation till the HC's fresh decision.

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