In a major blow for Lakshadweep MP Mohammed Faizal, the Kerala High Court ruling delaying his conviction and sentence in an attempt-to-murder case was overturned on Tuesday by the Supreme Court.
The High Court was instructed to deliberate on the MP's appeal to stop the conviction in six weeks by a bench of Justices BV Nagarathna and Ujjal Bhuyan. Additionally, it made it plain that the advantages of its order would last until the High Court reached a decision on the matter. It indicates that Faizal can continue to serve as an NCP member of parliament for the time being.
We overturn the contested ruling and send the case back to the High Court. However, we discover that Mohammed Faizal has remained an MP and has carried out all of his responsibilities up until this order. It would not be appropriate to create a void at this time since we are remanding for reconsideration, and we are asking the High Court to rule on the application within six weeks, the bench stated.
The Supreme Court took note of the arguments that a new election and the significant costs that would result from the conviction not being stayed cannot be the only grounds, as well as the fact that the High Court had not addressed the proper legal position regarding the manner in which an application for a stay on conviction must be considered.
The senior attorney representing Faizal said to the judge during the brief arguments, "The man is an elected official. Should he be stripped of his eligibility now that Parliament is not in session?
The bench responded, "We can set the High Court a deadline of 4 months. The profit of its order will be ours. It has disregarded some judgments.
Singhvi then highlighted the ruling by the three-judge panel of the Supreme Court, which had ordered a stay of Rahul Gandhi's conviction in the case involving the surname Modi.
Senior Attorney Menaka Guruswamy, who is representing the complainant in the case, responded to Singhvi by saying, "They have already benefited from the High Court order which ignored the collusion with the police."
In connection with a political scandal during the 2009 Lok Sabha elections, Padanath Salih, the son-in-law of former Union Minister and Congress politician PM Sayeed, was the target of an attempt to murder Faizal and other defendants, who were all found guilty by the Sessions court.
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