Supreme Court revokes Hassan’s candidacy

Supreme Court, on Thursday, has revoked the candidacy Hassan Shiyam, the candidate contesting for Central Henveiru constituency in the upcoming parliamentary election.

Incumbent Central Henveiru MP Ali Azim’s brother Ilyas Ahmed submitted the case to the Supreme Court to revoke Hassan’s candidacy in light of a proven debt.

Supreme, on Thursday, delivered the judgment in the case where the three justices who heard the case unanimously decided to revoke Hassan’s candidacy citing he did not meet the requirements to contest in the parliamentary election.

The three-justice bench was chaired by Justice Dr. Mohamed Ibrahim who was joined by Justice Husnu Al Suood and Justice Aisha Shujoon.

Crystal Lagoon Resort did not settle two loans withdrawn from State Bank of India (SBI) – USD 10 million in 2006 and MVR 64 million in 2008 – at the expiration of the repayment period. Hassan is among the 11 individuals who provided guarantee for the loans.

Civil Court, in the case, ordered the 11 individuals who provided the guarantee for the loans to settle the debt.

However, the debt had not been repaid in accordance with the judgment.

Henceforth, the court, in enforcement of the judgment, approved the sale of two resorts that were mortgaged.

Hassan sought an order from Civil Court establishing the 11 guarantors had no remaining debt to pay following the sale of the two resorts. Civil Court, however, refused to issue the order. High Court, on February 13^th, also upheld the decision by the lower court, citing there was no reason to overturn the decision.

As per the High Court, although Article 161 of the Civil Court’s civil procedure code momentarily barred the court from enforcing a judgment on the guarantors without inquiring whether the sale of a mortgage would settle the debt – it should be considered that the guarantors bore a proven debt. However, in such circumstances, the guarantors will not be considered as individuals who are not repaying the loan in accordance with the judgment.

Hassan’s debt had been a topic of contention during the last parliamentary election as well. However, back then, the Supreme Court had deemed him eligible to contest the election.