The Supreme Court has ruled that North Hithadhoo Member of Parliament Mohamed Sinan has lost his parliamentary seat.

The decision was issued unanimously by the bench, following a case filed by a private party seeking to declare Sinan’s seat vacant over failure to comply with a court order to repay a loan.

The case relates to an MVR 2.5 million loan taken from Maldives Islamic Bank in October 2024 by MP Sinan and another individual. The Hithadhoo Magistrate Court had ordered that the loan be repaid in instalments within six months, however, the Supreme Court found that the terms of the ruling had not been fulfilled.

Delivering the judgement, presiding judge stated that MP Sinan had neither appealed nor sought to overturn the original ruling. The court also rejected the claim that the judgement was not final due to being issued in absentia, noting that available documents showed MP Sinan had been informed of the proceedings.

The court further clarified that repayment of the full amount outside the structured instalment plan did not satisfy the conditions of the original order.

Based on these findings, the bench concluded that MP Sinan had lost his parliamentary seat.

The case was heard by a panel comprising Justice Uza Aisha Shujune Muhammad, Justice Uz Ali Rasheed Hussain, Justice Dr Mohamed Ibrahim, Justice Uz Hussain Shaheed and Justice Uz Mohamed Saleem.