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Who is Mohammed Faizal, the Lakshadweep MP whose disqualification was revoked twice in a year
In the archipelago, which has the lowest crime rate in India, the NCP leader is facing a charge of attempted murder.
On a map, the Lakshadweep archipelago appears as a small group of dots situated in the Arabian Sea. Located 220 and 440 miles from Kochi, the coastal city of Kerala, the country’s smallest union territory is a group of 36 islands and boasts of unique, sun-kissed beaches and verdant surroundings. In all, the total area of all the islands is a grand 32 square kilometres. With a total population of 68,500, as per the most recent census, it also boasts of one of the lowest crime rates in the country, the annual National Crime Record Bureau (NCRB) reports show; there have only been three murder cases reported since the formation of the Union territory in 1956, its administration website suggests.
This is why, when Lakshadweep’s lone member of Parliament was put behind bars on January 11 on charges of attempted murder, the archipelago’s residents were stunned. However, Mohammed Faizal’s legal saga had only just begun.
The 47-year-old MBA graduate from Calicut University has, in the span of this year itself, faced a stay on his conviction, two disqualifications as an MP, and two subsequent stays on this disqualification — he remains a member of the Lok Sabha as of the second third of October, and out of prison — even as related cases have moved from Kervatti sessions court to Kerala high court to Supreme Court.
A litany of charges
On April 16, 2009, Mohammed Salih, a Congress leader, was attacked by 36 persons purportedly belonging to the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) with iron rods, choppers, and sticks. At the time, Salih was campaigning for the Congress candidate, Hamdullah Sayeed, on Androth Island which is home to 15,300 people.
According to the Lakshadweep police’s charge sheet, P Mohammed Faizal was one of the men who attacked the politician and another Congress worker by the name of Mohammed Kasim. Faizal’s brother, a teacher, was also named as one of the attackers. In fact, witnesses later claimed that it was the latter who incited the attack on Salih.
Salih, who managed to flee, took refuge in the home of a woman named Kadeejummabi. However, the mob reached her home, broke into it and assaulted the home’s owner as well, the charge sheet stated.
So badly was Salih injured that he was admitted for treatment in Kochi for 23 days after being airlifted. Kadeejummabi also received specialised care in Kochi.
The day of the attack also happened to be the day the islands were voting for their MP in the 15th Lok Sabha elections — Congress’s Sayeed won.
Eventually, the two cases of assault — on Congress workers and on Kadeejummabi — were merged into one, on the order of the Kerala high court.
The background
Muslims make up 96.58% of the Lakshadweep population and have historically supported the Congress. The Union territory has one Lok Sabha member and local panchayats to which members are elected; there is no assembly, and thus, no legislators.
The Lok Sabha seat, a traditional bastion of the Congress, elected party veteran PM Sayeed for 10 straight terms starting in 1967. In the 2004 general elections, PM Sayeed lost the race to Dr P Pookunhikoya of the Janata Dal (United) by a slim margin of 71 votes. However, the Congress elected Sayeed to the Rajya Sabha from Delhi and he held the position of Union power minister till he died of a heart attack on December 18, 2005, in Seoul.
Sayeed's passing signalled a dramatic change in the archipelago's political landscape, with the Janata Dal (United) merging with Sharad Pawar's NCP to sidestep the unease surrounding the Bihar unit's decision to join the Bharatiya Janata Party-led front. At the same time, many young people in the island cluster began to lean towards the NCP due to what they referred to as the Sayeed family’s dynasty politics — Hamdullah Sayeed, the Congress MP from Lakshadweep in 2009 is his son.
By 2008, Faizal, who earned a master’s diploma in Business Administration from Calicut University established himself as the local NCP unit's face. Born on Androth Island, he became the face of the first real political opposition to the Congress for the first time in the archipelago’s history. Faizal won his first election in 2014, followed by another win in 2019.
Despite the ineffective attempts of the BJP and CPI (M) to establish themselves in the islands, the Congress party remains the primary opponent of the NCP in Lakshadweep.
However, the trial against Faizal and 35 others was still pending — and the Kerala high court lifted its stay on the trial in December 2022. Following this, the Sessions Court at Kavaratti, the administrative centre of Lakshadweep, recommenced the trial.
Punishment after a decade
Four people, including Faizal and his brother Sayed Mohammed Nurul Ameen, a government school teacher, were sentenced to 10 years of imprisonment by the Kavarathi court on January 11, 2023, for the crime of attempted murder; the rest were found not guilty (the trial against two of the 37 ceased after they passed away in the duration). The court also imposed fines of ₹1 lakh on each of the guilty parties in the case. The judge reprimanded the investigating officer for adopting a pro-accused stance, citing at least nine instances of his egregious incompetence. The court suggested departmental action against M.P. Najumudheen, the then-inspector of Androth Island, who had retired from active duty.
The Kavaratti sessions court charged Faizal under sections 143, 147, 148, 448, 427, 324, 342, 307, and 506 of the IPC, which disqualified him as a member of the Lok Sabha. Article 102(1)(e) of the Constitution (Disqualification of MPs) and Section 8 of the Representation of the People Act, 1951. Section 8 says that anyone convicted for two years or more is banned from Parliament for the length of their sentence plus an extra six years.
“After being found guilty by the Court of Sessions in Kavaratti, Lakshadweep's Mohammed Faizal, who was a member of Lok Sabha representing the Lakshadweep Parliamentary Constituency of the Union Territory of Lakshadweep, will no longer be able to serve in Lok Sabha as of January 11, 2023, as stated in Article 102(1)(e) of the Constitution of India and Section 8 of the Representation of the People Act, 1951,” the Lok Sabha bulletin read.
Faizal’s defence however claimed that the police had fabricated the charges against him and the case in which he was found guilty was biased.
"Though the police claimed that Salih was attacked with sharp objects, the medical certificate presented by the investigators clearly says that no sharp weapons were used and a blunt object caused his injury," Faizal told media persons gathered outside Kannur jail when he was released following a stay on his conviction by the Kerala HC after hearing his appeal. Additionally, he said he was preoccupied with election-related tasks and was not present at the scene when the incident occurred. However, witnesses claimed otherwise.
During the appeal hearing that month, the administration told the Kerala HC that Faizal’s release would “shake people's faith in the judicial process.” What’s more, the HC was also informed, that the MP was being tried in two other criminal matters: one involving the alleged intimidation of CBI officials who conducted a raid at his home in connection with purported irregularities in tuna exports to a Sri Lankan company represented by his nephew; and the other related to organising protests against administrator Praful Khoda Patel for implementing the agenda of the Sangh Parivar in the islands.
Faizal’s appeal journey
Records from the parliament show that Faizal has an attendance rate of 81% in sessions, compared to the national average of 79%. He is the chief whip of the Sharad Pawar faction of the NCP in the Lok Sabha. During his first term, he was a member of the standing committee on transport, tourism and culture, as well as a member of the consultative committee of the ministry of home affairs. In his second term, he is a member of the standing committee on personnel, public grievances, law and justice. He is also a member of the consultative committee of the ministry of minority affairs.
However, on January 25, the Kerala HC suspended his disqualification and facilitated his reentry to the Lok Sabha. However, the Ethics Committee of the Lok Sabha revoked Faizal's lower House membership.
A by-election for the Lakshadweep Parliamentary constituency was postponed by the Election Commission of India on January 30 in view of the staying of the conviction by the HC. On March 29, the Lok Sabha secretariat finally reinstated him after much deliberation.
In his order suspending the trial court verdict, judge Bechu Kurian Thomas of the Kerala high court stated that this was necessary to prevent expensive re-election because the elected candidate would only serve a 15-month term. According to the court, this made the case unique and justified suspending the sentence.
“This court cannot ignore the public interest in preventing an expensive election that too, when the elected candidate can serve for a restricted time on their own if a new election is held,” the judge observed. The single judge had reasoned that a balance would need to be struck between the interests of society and the requirement for political and electoral integrity.
The court rejected the Union government's arguments that disqualification starts at the moment of conviction and that it is impossible to regain membership in Parliament even if the court grants a stay. However, Faizal's relief did not last for very long. The Supreme Court overturned Justice Thomas' August 22 ruling.
A bench under the direction of Justice B.V. Nagarathna requested that the Kerala high court rehearse the appeal that the Lakshadweep administration filed and make a decision within the fortnight.
However, Faizal was allowed to continue serving as an MP until the HC made its decision about leaving the constituency seat empty.
On October 3, another bench of the Kerala HC denied Faizal's request to have his conviction postponed, even though as per its earlier judgement, the sentences stood suspended until the appeal was resolved. The HC bench led by Justice N. Nagaresh, which reviewed the case under the SC’s directive, stated that there was prima facie evidence of the accused's criminal behaviour.
"I sincerely feel that the conviction order imposed on the second petitioner (Faizal) should not be suspended in this case. Therefore, the request to suspend the conviction order is denied,” the judge said.
He also made strong remarks about "the criminalization of the electoral process”.
“The entanglement of political offences are threats to free and fair elections. There are increasing reports of illegal activity occurring even during legislative body meetings. If men with criminal records are allowed to remain in the democratic system, the increase in crime during the election process could become so severe as to undermine Indian democracy,” the judge stated. “This would only send wrong signals to the public at large if persons with criminal antecedents are permitted to continue as Members of Parliament or Legislatures even after conviction by a competent court."
Faizal was once again excluded from the Lok Sabha after the ruling — the second time in a span of 10 months.
…The saga didn’t end there
On October 10, the Supreme Court stepped in and upheld its previous injunction protecting him, allowing him to rejoin the House, after the MP sought an urgent hearing through his lawyer, Kapil Sibal.
This was the second time that the NCP MP has had his membership to the lower house of the Parliament reinstated.
Sibal told a bench of justices Hrishikesh Roy and Sanjay Kaul that Faizal had just struck members of a rival political party as per the initial complaint filed in the matter. However, the charge sheet was modified later by saying that Faizal had struck them with an iron rod.
The general election is less than a year away, he remarked. According to the legislation, if a conviction is stayed, only the constituency that would not have a representative in the Lok Sabha for the remainder of the term may hold a new election in between.
Following a brief hearing, the court stayed the HC judgement and gave notice as per Faizal's plea.
In order to facilitate the restoration of his membership while the lawsuit is pending, the court also ordered the resuscitation of its previous protection order, which was issued on August 22.
“We are concerned about the legal fallouts of the contradicting court verdicts. In an attempt to reclaim the seat in the rapidly approaching general election, Congress in Lakshadweep is currently utilising the case as a political weapon against Faizal,” said Hamdullah Sayeed, general secretary to the Lakshadweep unit of Congress, when contacted by the Hindustan Times.
He said his party is more interested in mobilising the islanders against criminal politics than it is in keeping up Faizal's judicial battle.
Faizal's attorney, senior advocate P Vijayabhanu, told the Hindustan Times that his client is requesting a sentence suspension on the grounds that the lawsuit is frivolous and pertains to a period of time when the appellant was not an elected member of Parliament.
