HC Slaps Rs 10K Penalty For Non-Appearance On Odisha MLA Md Mouquim In False Affidavit Case

Cuttack: The Orissa High Court on Friday imposed a fine of Rs 10,000 on Barabati-Cuttack MLA Mohammed Moquim for not appearing before it during examination of witness in a false affidavit case.

The legislator had instead sought more time for appearance.

Expressing dissatisfaction, the court imposed Rs 10,000 fine on the MLA and asked him to deposit the fine amount in Advocates’ Welfare Fund by Monday. He has been asked to appear in the court during the next hearing on August 11.

BJD leader Debashish Samantaray had filed a petition on July 3, 2019, challenging the election of Moquim on the ground that he had suppressed material facts with respect to the criminal cases pending against him while filing his nomination papers. He further stated that the first-time MLA had also not disclosed correct facts about his assets and liabilities.

In June 2022, Justice SK Sahoo framed 36 issues for consideration in the election case while dismissing Moquim’s plea,  seeking rejection of the petition at the very threshold in its entirety for want of cause of action without entering into the merits of the case.

Notably, the HC is also hearing the MLA’s appeal, challenging his conviction in a loan scam. The court on Wednesday had directed state counsel Jyoti Prakash Patnaik to take instructions from the registry and file an affidavit on the status of the criminal appeal which the petitioners argued had not been listed for hearing since the interim stay on Mouquim’s conviction on October 19, 2022.

Acting on it, the two-judge bench of Justices Subhasis Talapatra and Savitri Ratho posted the matter to August 18 for consideration along with the status report on the criminal appeal.