The Lok Sabha Secretariat on Thursday restored the membership of Lakshadweep MP Mohammed Faizal, nearly a month after the Supreme Court suspended his conviction in an attempt to murder case, reported PTI.

Faizal’s disqualification from the House has “ceased to operate subject to further judicial pronouncements”, a notification issued by Lok Sabha Secretary General Utpal Kumar Singh said.

The MP was disqualified from the Lok Sabha on October 4 for the second time this year. This came after the Kerala High Court refused to suspend his conviction in the 2009 case.

However, on October 9, a Supreme Court bench of Justices Hrishikesh Roy and Sanjay Karol stayed the High Court order, reported Live Law. The bench said that the top court’s August 22 order in the matter will come into effect.

In August, the Supreme Court stated that the benefit of suspension of Faizal’s conviction would continue while the matter was remanded to the High Court.

A Lakshadweep sessions court convicted Faizal and four others on January 11 for attempting to murder Padanath Salih, the son-in-law of former Union Minister and Congress leader PM Sayeed, during the 2009 Lok Sabha elections. They were awarded a jail sentence of 10 years. Faizal was first disqualified as a member of the Lok Sabha after this conviction.

The Nationalist Congress Party leader had challenged the verdict in the Kerala High Court, which suspended his conviction and sentence on January 25.

The High Court had remarked that Faizal’s disqualification would lead to a bye-election in his constituency, which would impose a financial burden on the government and the public. It had also said that the new election process would lead to various development activities in Lakshadweep coming to a halt for a few weeks. His Lok Sabha membership was reinstated on March 29.