Lakshadweep moves Supreme Court against Kerala High Court order suspending conviction of MP Mohammed Faizal

The Union Territory of Lakshadweep has moved the Supreme Court challenging a Kerala High Court order that had suspended the trial court conviction of Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader and Member of Parliament (MP) from Lakshadweep, PP Mohammed Faizal, in an attempt to murder case [UT Administration of Lakshadweep v. Mohd Faizal and ors]. .The plea filed, through advocate Akshay Amritanshu, raised concerns that the implication of the Kerala High Court order would be that every conviction and sentence of elected politicians would have to be suspended to avoid the financial burden of bye-elections.The matter was mentioned today by Solicitor General Tushar Mehta before a bench led by Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud. The Court agreed to list the matter on February 6..The Lakshadweep government contended that the High Court order ignored the principles of democracy, purity of elections, the need for decriminalisation of politics, as well as the spirit of the Representation of People Act.There are no exceptional circumstances to have the conviction suspended in this case, the government has submitted in its appeal. Further, ‘election expenditure’ and ‘remainder of tenure’ cannot be grounds to nullify an order of conviction, the appellant said." ... the entire object of the Representation of the People Act, 1951 to disqualify convicted elected representatives and to ensure convicted elected representatives are disqualified stands negated by the impugned interim order ... right to contest an election is not a fundamental right, but a statutory right ... the Hon’ble High Court gave undue weightage to the fact that general elections were due in 2024," the appeal stated further.The government added that a conviction for an attempt to murder is a serious reflection on the character of the elected MP. As such, the benefit of any presumption of innocence cannot be extended to him after his conviction, the appellant contended. The government also urged the Supreme Court to issue an interim stay on the Kerala High Court ruling under challenge.The appeal has been filed through advocate Akshay Amritanshu. .On January 11, the Kavaratti Sessions Court had convicted four persons, including Faizal, for attempting to murder Padanath Salih, the son-in-law of former Union Minister and Indian National Congress leader, PM Sayeed, in relation to a political controversy during the 2009 Lok Sabha elections. All four accused were effectively sentenced to undergo 10 years of rigorous imprisonment by the trial court. The very next day, on January 12, the four convicts moved an appeal before the High Court. They also filed applications to suspend their conviction and sentence and release them on bail during the pendency of their appeal. The Lakshadweep Police filed an objection to these applications. Meanwhile, Faizal was disqualified from holding the office of Member of Parliament in view of his trial court conviction and a notification in this regard was issued by the Lok Sabha Secretariat..At the High Court, Justice Bechu Kurian Thomas opined that Faizal's case fell in the category of rare and exceptional circumstances and that the ramifications of not suspending his conviction were enormous. The High Court raised concern over the enormous administrative exercise needed to conduct fresh elections, which in turn would halt developmental activities in Lakshadweep for a few weeks, at least. Justice Thomas added that the societal interest and the need to have purity in politics will have to be balanced, before eventually suspending Faizal's conviction and sentence until his appeal was disposed of. This order has now been challenged before the Supreme Court. .On a related note, the Supreme Court on Friday last week disposed of a plea by Faizal challenging the Election Commission of India (ECI) notification for by-elections to fill his seat in view of his conviction. The plea was disposed of after the ECI assured the top court that it would only act as per law and keeping in mind the High Court order suspending Faizal's conviction.