New Delhi: The Supreme Court Friday junked a plea by a lawyer challenging the restoration of Lok Sabha membership of Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Mohammed Faizal. The petitioner, advocate Ashok Pandey, contended before a bench led by Justice B R Gavai that once an MP loses their office due to conviction in a criminal case, they will continue to be disqualified until their acquittal by a higher court.
The bench, comprising justices Aravind Kumar and Prashant Kumar Mishra, asked the petitioner, why is he filing a frivolous petition despite being a lawyer. After hearing brief submissions, the bench dismissed the petition and also imposed Rs 1 Lakh costs on the lawyer.
On October 9, the Supreme Court stayed the Kerala High Court order refusing to suspend the conviction of disqualified Lakshadweep MP Mohammed Faizal. The apex court order paved the way for a restoration of Faizal’s Lok Sabha membership. The apex court said that the benefit of suspension of conviction earlier granted by it will continue.
In January this year, a trial court sentenced Faizal and three others for attempting to kill Mohammed Salih, son-in-law of the late union minister P M Sayeed, during the 2009 general election.
The high court, in its order rejecting the plea for suspending the NCP lawmaker’s conviction, had noted that criminalization of the election process was a matter of grave concern in India’s democratic polity. He moved the high court challenging the trial court’s order and the high court had suspended his conviction and sentence on January 25. The Lakshadweep administration moved the apex court against the high court decision. After the high court’s October 3 order, he was disqualified as a member of the Lok Sabha.
On October 13, a bench led by Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud imposed a cost of Rs 5 Lakh on a lawyer Ashok Pandey seeking an order for “re-oath” by Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyay, chief justice of Bombay High Court, for the reason that the word ‘I’ was not used by him while taking oath to the office.
In an order, the bench had said, “Time has come when the Court should impose exemplary costs in such frivolous PILs. We accordingly dismiss the petition with costs of Rs 5 lakh which shall be deposited by the petitioner in the Registry of this Court within a period of four weeks. If the cost is not deposited within the aforesaid period, the same shall be collected as arrears of land revenue through the Collector and District Magistrate at Lucknow”.
