New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday stayed a recent order of the Kerala High Court passed on October 3, rejecting Lakshadweep Member of Parliament Mohammed Faizal's plea for suspending his conviction in an attempt to murder case.
Following the Kerala HC order, Faizal was disqualified as an MP for the second time. After the apex court's stay, Faizal can now continue as an MP.
Issuing notice on Faizal’s appeal challenging the High Court order, the bench of Justices Hrishikesh Roy and Sanjay Karol also directed that the Supreme Court’s August 22 order, by which the matter was remanded back to the High Court while allowing him to continue as a Lok Sabha MP, will become operational.
Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal, who represented Faizal before the court, argued that the FIR was later modified to include an iron rod as a murder weapon after he was elected as an MP.
Sibal further added that this was a fight between two political parties, the NCP and the Congress. While Faizal belongs to the NCP, all the witnesses are Congress workers. "The sessions judge found that there are no independent witnesses," Sibal said.
Sibal further said that Faizal's constituency Lakshadweep should not be allowed to go unrepresented. The apex court, while staying the conviction further sought a response from the Lakshadweep administration and the complainant.
In January, a sessions court in Lakshadweep's Kavaratti sentenced Faizal for attempting to kill Mohammed Salih, son-in-law of the late Union Minister PM Sayeed, during the 2009 Lok Sabha elections. Following this, Faizal was suspended from Lok Sabha on January 25.
The sessions court sentenced Faizal to rigorous imprisonment for ten years. In March, the High Court suspended his conviction and sentence in the case. Then the complainant and the Lakshwadeep administration approached the apex court.
With inputs from agencies