SC junks review plea by lawyer over restoration of ex-MP in Parliament

PTI, Oct 29, 2024, 7:32 PM IST

New Delhi: The Supreme Court has dismissed a lawyer’s plea seeking review of its order denying his challenge against the restoration of Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Mohammed Faizal’s Lok Sabha membership.

A bench of Justices B R Gavai, Aravind Kumar and P K Mishra said there was no reason to entertain the review petition.

“Having perused the review petition and the connected papers with meticulous care, we do not find any justifiable reason to entertain the review petition. The review petition is, accordingly, dismissed,” the bench held on October 23.

The top court was hearing a plea filed by advocate Ashok Pandey against the October 20, 2023 order of the apex court which dismissed his plea and also imposed a cost of Rs 1 lakh on him for the “abuse of process of law”.

Pandey had contended once an MP loses office due to a conviction in a criminal case, they would continue to be disqualified till their acquittal by a higher court.

“The present petition filed under Article 32 of the Constitution of India is nothing else but an abuse of process of law as none of the fundamental rights of the petitioner are violated, so as to enable him to invoke extraordinary jurisdiction under Article 32 of the Constitution of India,” the top court observed.

Dismissing his plea, the apex court had imposed Rs 1 lakh costs to be paid within four weeks.

The Lok Sabha secretariat in November, 2023, had revoked the disqualification of the NCP member from the lower house of Parliament, weeks after the apex court suspended his conviction in an attempt to murder case.

Faizal was disqualified from the Lok Sabha on October 4 for the second time in 2023 after the Kerala High Court declined to suspend the conviction of the MP from Lakshadweep in the 2009 attempt to murder case.

He was first disqualified as an MP on January 11, following his 10-year sentencing and Rs 1 lakh fine by a sessions court in Kavaratti.

Muhammed Hamdulla Sayeed of Indian National Congress is the current MP Lakshadweep.