During a hearing on Wednesday, the Supreme Court expressed that the Kerala High Court's concerns about election expenses in relation to the suspension of Lakshadweep MP PP Mohammed Fazil's conviction were irrelevant. The bench, consisting of Justices KM Joseph and BV Nagarathna, listened to arguments presented in a petition by the Lakshadweep Administration against the High Court's decision to suspend Fazil's conviction for an attempted murder case.,
Justice Joseph of the Supreme Court shared his initial thoughts during the hearing, expressing that the Kerala High Court should not have raised the issue of election expenses. He stated that the High Court's comments on potential increased expenses were irrelevant to the case at hand and extraneous to the issue.
The High Court had previously noted that there was a societal interest in avoiding an expensive election, particularly since the elected candidate would only serve for a limited period if a fresh election were to be conducted. The court emphasized the importance of maintaining purity in politics and elections, while also balancing this with societal interests.
At the Supreme Court hearing, the bench acknowledged that the complainant in the case had suffered 16 injuries, and a doctor had testified that if the complainant had not received medical attention, he would have died. The complainant had been airlifted from Lakshadweep after allegedly being attacked by Faizal.
The bench also expressed concern about the Kerala High Court's description of the injury as a simple injury, which was one of the reasons given for suspending Faizal's conviction. The Supreme Court did not appear satisfied with this characterization and questioned the High Court's decision to suspend the conviction based on this reasoning.
Following brief arguments from senior counsels representing Faizal, the complainant, and the Union Territory, a bench consisting of Justice KM Joseph and Justice BV Nagarathna has postponed the hearing of petitions filed by the UT and the complainant until April 24th, 2023. In the meantime, the bench has directed the Union Territory of Lakshadwe
ep to provide depositions from all pertinent witnesses in the attempted murder case.
The bench was particularly interested in hearing from three prosecution witnesses, PW1, PW3, and PW5.
During the hearing, Senior Advocate AM Singhvi represented Faizal and argued that a stay of conviction should not be granted only in rare and exceptional cases. Singhvi stated that the injury sustained by the complainant was not caused by sharp weapons as alleged and that several witnesses had testified to this effect. Singhvi also noted that the complainant's statements regarding the weapons used had changed over time.
In response, Senior Advocate Menaka Guruswamy, who appeared for the complainant, highlighted that the stated motive provided by the trial court was to prevent people from exercising their right to vote.
Justice Joseph remarked that staying a conviction should only be done in exceptional circumstances, to which Singhvi argued that where the failure to stay the conviction would result in injustice and irreversible consequences, a conviction should be stayed. He also emphasized that the judgment of the High Court was not based on the eventuality of Faizal's disqualification from Lok Sabha and that the Court must examine the details of the case when overturning a conviction, but not when staying it.
Justice Nagarathna questioned whether there should be a different rule for MPs/MLAs and whether irreversible consequences would be different for non-MP/MLAs. In response, Singhvi submitted that disqualification was not limited to MPs/MLAs and could occur in cases under the Company Act, but only with a prima facie case.
The bench also disposed of another petition filed by Faizal seeking the reinstatement of his Lok Sabha membership, as the Lok Sabha Secretariat issued a notification to restore his membership during the hearing.
Background:
In a case relating to an incident from 2009, a Sessions Court in Lakshadweep convicted NCP MP PP Mohammed Faizal and three others to ten years imprisonment on January 11, 2023. Subsequently, Faizal was disqualified as an MP and bye-polls were announced by the Election Commission of India.
However, on January 25, a single bench of the Kerala High Court suspended Faizal's conviction, citing concerns about the wasteful expenditure of a bye-poll when the Lok Sabha's term was set to expire within a year and a half. Justice Bechu Kurian Thomas also observed that no dangerous weapons were found to have been used by the accused and the wound certificates did not indicate any serious injuries.
In response to the High Court's decision, the Election Commission announced that it would not take any further action regarding the bye-elections.
[Case Title: UT Administration of Lakshadweep v. Mohammed Faizal And Ors. SLP(Crl) No. 1644/2023 and Mohammed Faizal PP v. Secy General WP(C) No. 405/2023]
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TAGS: Sessions Court Lakshadweep NCP MP conviction attempt to murder case 2009 disqualification Election Commission of India bye-polls Kerala High Court suspension of conviction wasteful expenditure dangerous weapons wound certificates serious injuries Lok Sabha expiration Election Commission press note.
