NCP leader Mohammad Faizal’s Lok Sabha membership restored ahead of SC hearing

The Lok Sabha Secretariat reinstated NCP leader Mohammad Faizal’s membership on Wednesday after the Kerala High Court stayed his conviction in a criminal case. “This delay in revoking my membership is not appreciated. The Secretariat took the decision of disqualifying me, and the very next day my conviction was declared, at least that swiftness should have been shown for revoking my membership,” NCP leader Mohammad Faizal told ANI. 

The restoration of Faizal’s Lok Sabha membership comes ahead of a Supreme Court hearing on the matter. Congress welcomed the development. Senior party leader Manish Tewari tweeted, “Good to have @faizalpp786 back in Lok Sabha However this notification should have come much earlier. The High Court of Kerala at Ernakulam had passed an order on 25.01.2023 itself in Crl. M.A. No. 1 of 2023 in Crl. Appeal No. 49 of 2023, suspending the conviction and sentencing”.

The development comes just days after Congress leader Rahul Gandhi was disqualified as a Lok Sabha member following his conviction in a criminal defamation case by a Gujarat court. While hearing the petition of Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Mohammed Faizal on Tuesday, the Supreme Court asked which of the petitioner’s rights were being violated during his suspension as an MP.

Mohammed Faizal, the leader of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), had petitioned the Supreme Court, claiming that despite his conviction being stayed by the Kerala High Court, he had not been reinstated to the Parliament. Faizal’s lawyer was asked by a bench of justices KM Joseph and BV Nagarathna which of his fundamental rights had been violated.

Faizal’s lawyer responded that the “The right to represent his constituency”, to which the court asked, “Is that a fundamental right?”

He informed the court that the speaker had refused to allow the parliamentarian to sit in Parliament. He also urged the speaker to reverse his order of disqualification. The lawyer urged the Supreme Court to hear the case tomorrow, and the case was adjourned until tomorrow.

Previously, the Kerala High Court suspended the conviction and sentence of Lakshadweep MP and Nationalist Congress leader (NCP) leader PP Mohammed Faizal and three others in a murder attempt case. The order was issued in response to a petition filed by Faizal and others challenging a trial court’s order in Lakshadweep in an attempted murder case. Faizal applied to have the 10-year sentence suspended.

Previously, the Kavaratti Sessions Court convicted four people, including Faizal. Following that, the UT Administration of Lakshadweep petitioned the Supreme Court, challenging the Kerala High Court order suspending Lakshadweep MP Faizal’s conviction in the attempted murder case.