Karnataka High Court suspends conviction of Satish Sail, Karwar MLA, in illegal export of iron ore case

High Court suspends MLA Sail's conviction in iron ore export cases, allowing him to retain position with restrictions.

The High Court of Karnataka has suspended the conviction of MLA for Karwar Satish Krishna Sail in six cases of illegal export of seized iron ore, in which he was sentenced to seven years of imprisonment in each of the cases.

The court also directed that the Karwar Assembly constituency should not be notified for byelection as per Section 151 of the Representation of the People (RP) Act, 1951, till the outcome of his appeal against the trial court’s verdict of conviction and sentence.

Justice M. Nagaprasanna passed the interim order on December 19 as Mr. Sail stood disqualified as an MLA since October 24, the day on which he was convicted, as per Section 8 of the RP Act.

The court also said Mr. Sail should not be disqualified to contest future elections during the pendency of this appeal.

With this interim order, Mr. Sail would retain his position as the MLA for Karwar but with limited rights as the High Court has imposed several restrictions on him in terms of the apex court’s order, passed in the case of Afsal Ansari vs. State of Uttar Pradesh in a similar situation in which Afsal Ansar faced disqualification as a Member of Parliament following his conviction and sentence beyond two years in terms of the RP Act.

The High Court said Mr. Sail would not be entitled to participate in the proceedings of the Legislative Assembly and would have no right to cast his vote in the House or to draw any perks or monetary benefits.

In view of the suspension of conviction benefiting him to retain his position as an MLA, the High Court said his appeal would have to be heard expeditiously, as was directed by the apex court in the Afsal Ansari case, and decided to hear the appeal on February 10, 2025.