SC to hear NCP MP Faizal’s plea against continued disqualification

The Supreme Court will hear on Tuesday (March 28) a plea against the Lok Sabha Secretariat for not axing a notification disqualifying NCP leader Mohammed Faizal as an MP upon his conviction which the Kerala High Court later stayed.

A bench comprising Chief Justice DY Chandrachud and Justices PS Narasimha and JB Pardiwala took note of the submissions of senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi, who appeared for the former Lakshadweep MP.

Singhvi argued that Faizal had not been reinstated as an MP despite his conviction and 10-year sentence being stayed by the high court on January 25 this year.

Also read: Lakshadweep MP Mohammed Faizal disqualified after murder case conviction

He said the Union Territory’s appeal against the high court order was coming up for hearing before another apex court bench on Tuesday (March 28). “Tag this with the SLP (of Lakshadweep),” said the bench.

Singhvi’s argument

Singhvi said the Lok Sabha was “prompt to disqualify Faizal as an MP immediately after he was convicted and sentenced by a local court in January this year, but his membership has not been restored yet despite the high court staying the conviction”.

Also read: Lakshadweep Tuna fish scam: CBI books NCP MP Mohammed Faizal, his nephew

Faizal stood disqualified from the membership of Lok Sabha from January 11, the date of his conviction in an attempt to murder case by a sessions court in Kavaratti, according to the Lok Sabha Secretariat.

(With agency inputs)