The Supreme Court on Tuesday set aside the Kerala High Court verdict of January 25, which suspended the conviction of Lok Sabha MP Mohammed Faisal in an attempt to murder case and directed the High Court to take a fresh decision on the matter within six weeks.

Even while remitting the matter back to the High Court, the Supreme Court held that the benefit of the suspension of conviction will continue till the fresh decision of the High Court, thereby enabling Faizal, a member of the NCP, to continue as the MP representing Lakshadweep.

The Bench of Justice B.V. Nagarathna and Justice Ujjal Bhuyan remitted the matter back to the High Court, after observing that the latter did not consider the true position of law with respect to the manner in which application for stay on conviction has to be considered. 

It further directed that the benefit of suspension of conviction will continue till the fresh decision of the High Court, which meant that the NCP leader will continue as lone MP from the Lakshadweep constituency.

The Apex Court noted that the High Court verdict had considered the prospect of a fresh election and the enormous expenses which would ensue. It said the same should not have been a factor to suspend the conviction.

It further said that the High Court should ‘have considered’ the application in proper perspective and bearing in mind various judgements of this court.

Sending the matter back to the High Court, the Apex Court noted that at this stage, it would not be proper to create a vacuum since the High Court has been directed to dispose of the application within six weeks.

The Bombay High Court has cancelled the caste certificate of Navneet Kaur Rana, the independent Lok Sabha MP from Amravati, a reserved Scheduled Caste seat. The court has also imposed a fine of Rs 2 lakh on her.

A division bench of Justice R.D. Dhanuka and Justice V.G. Bishth directed Rana to surrender the caste certificate within six weeks. The court has further ordered her to pay the amount imposed on her as a fine to the Maharashtra Legal Services Authority within two weeks.

The petition was filed by former MP Anand Rao Adsul in the High Court against Rana alleging that she had filed a forged certificate. She got it validated fraudulently from Caste Scrutiny Committee by producing fabricated and fraudulent documents, to be in the eligibility criteria of filing the nomination.

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Rana contested from Amravati and won against Adsul. She had entered politics in 2014 on an NCP ticket but lost the election. However, in 2019, she contested as an independent and reached the Lok Sabha after winning the election. Her husband Ravi Rana is a Maharashtra MLA.