Cuttack: In a jolt to Barabati-Cuttack Congress MLA Mohammed Moquim ahead of Odisha elections, the Orissa High Court on Wednesday upheld his conviction by a trial court in a loan scam case.
The Special Vigilance Court had sentenced Moquim to three years in jail along with three others in connection with the 22-year-old Odisha Rural Housing Development Corporation (ORHDC) corruption case on September 29, 2022.
In October 2022, following an appeal from the Congress legislator, the HC, however, stayed his conviction, describing it as “an exceptional case” and allowed him to continue as member of the state assembly. Under the Representation of Peoples’ Act (RPA), MLAs who are fined or convicted with punishment of more than two years are disqualified.
Moquim had challenged the propriety of the trial court’s order on the ground it was incurably defective and suffered from gross infirmities.
In September 2023, the case was back in focus with the Supreme Court requesting its disposal within six months after the state Vigilance sought its intervention against the interim stay order through a special leave petition (SLP) .
Moquim, an engineer by profession, was accused of obtaining pecuniary advantage in favour of Metro Builders, the construction company which he headed, in guise of loans meant for rural poor from ORHDC. The firm was illegally awarded a loan of Rs 1.5 crore in 2000 by the state PSU for its Metro City-II project. The loan was disbursed in a hurried manner without the proposal being not placed before the board of directors of ORHDC or the loan committee for approval. Site verification was not carried out and documents like Bhubaneswar Development Authority’s plan, project estimate and fire certificate were also forged to avail the loan.
The vigilance found that the real estate company did not repay the entire loan amount. As on July 31, 2007, the outstanding amount of Metro Builders had reached Rs 6.22 crore.
Besides Moquim, the trial court had awarded the same punishment to dismissed IAS officer Vinod Kumar, director of Metro Builders Peeyush Mohanty and former company secretary of ORHDC Swosti Ranjan Mohapatra in the case.
Though Congress revoked Moquim’s suspension earlier this year, it is yet to announce his candidature from the same seat for the upcoming elections. He may not qualify to the contest the Assembly elections unless his conviction is stayed by the SC.
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