Lakshadweep MP, serving 10-yr jail term, disqualified from Lok Sabha
The NCP MP was convicted of leading a group of people to attack Congress leader Mohammad Saliah following an altercation and critically injured him.
The Nationalist Congress Party MP from Lakshadweep Mohammad Faizal has been disqualified as Lok Sabha member, Lok Sabha secretariat said late Friday after the lawmaker, along with three others, was sentenced to 10 years’ rigorous imprisonment in connection with an attempt to murder case filed in 2009.
On Wednesday, the district sessions court in Kavaratti also suspended the bail of the NCP MP and other accused who were then taken to Kerala’s Kannur central jail. Though Faizal moved the Kerala high court against the sentencing, it refused to stay the verdict.
According to prosecution, the MP had allegedly led a group of people to attack Congress leader Mohammad Saliah, son-in-law of former Union minister P M Sayeed, after an altercation and critically injured him. Later, an attempt to murder case was registered against Faizal and others under the Indian Penal Code. Saliah was later flown to Kerala and underwent treatment for many months in a private hospital.
There were 32 accused in the case and first four were convicted, the MP was second accused in the case. Though the counsel for accused insisted that it was a minor scuffle, the judge rejected their contention citing medical reports and long hospitalisation of the victim. The clash took place during the Lok Sabha election in 2009.
