Lok Sabha Secretariat reinstates Lakshadweep MP Mohammed Faizal to parliament before Supreme Court hearing

The Lok Sabha Secretariat on Wednesday reinstated Lakshadweep Member of Parliament (MP) PP Mohammed Faizal to the parliament after the Kerala High Court had suspended his conviction in an attempt to murder case..Interestingly, the Lok Sabha Secretariat's decision came moments before the hearing in the Supreme Court on a plea by Faizal saying that his membership was not being restored despite suspension of his conviction. The notification issued by the Secretariat on Wednesday acknowledged that the conviction and sentence of the MP in the case were suspended by the Kerala High Court on January 25. As a result, his suspension from the Lok Sabha under Article 102(1)(e) of the Constitution of India read with Section 8 of the Representation of the People Act has ceased to operate..On January 11, the Kavaratti Sessions Court convicted four individuals, including Faizal, for attempting to murder Padanath Salih, the son-in-law of former Union Minister and Indian National Congress leader, PM Sayeed. The incident was related to a political controversy during the 2009 Lok Sabha elections, and all four convicts were sentenced to 10 years of rigorous imprisonment.The next day, on January 12, the convicts filed an appeal before the Kerala High Court and applied for bail during the pendency of their appeal. On January 25, the Kerala High Court suspended their conviction and sentence, leading to an appeal before the Supreme Court for reinstatement..After the trial court had convicted Faizal, he had been disqualified from holding the office of Member of Parliament and a notification in this regard was also issued by the Lok Sabha Secretariat.Subsequently, the Election Commission (EC) had also notified bye-elections to his constituency.However, Faizal had then moved the Supreme Court challenging the announcement by the EC to hold bye-elections.The Supreme Court had disposed of that plea on January 27 after the EC assured the top court that it will act in line with the Kerala High Court order suspending the conviction.