Odisha Congress MLA Mohammed Moquim Moves SC Against Election Annulment

Cuttack: Congress MLA Mohammed Moquim has moved the Supreme Court challenging Orissa High Court’s verdict, annulling his  election of Mohammed Moquim from Cuttack-Barabati Assembly constituency,

He has sought a stay order on the High Court’s ruling.

On March 4, a single judge bench of Justice Sangam Kumar Sahoo had declared the election as ‘void’ under section 100 of the Representation of the People Act, 1951 as Moquim did not list out all the criminal cases lodged against him while filing his nomination in 2019.

The HC also observed that the affidavit was not properly checked by the Returning Officer and hence it be declared invalid.

This significant ruling came in response to a petition filed by BJD senior leader and former Cuttack-Barabati MLA, Debasis Samantaray, whom Moquim defeated by a margin of 3827 votes in the 2019 election. Samantray, who was elected to the Rajya Sabha last month, also alleged that the Cuttack-Barabati MLA did not disclose correct facts about his assets and liabilities.

Last week, Moquim had informed the media about his decision to appeal against the HC’s verdict in SC. “I don’t think the court’s verdict will have any impact on me, my party, the workers and people of Cuttack-Barabati constituency where I have worked for a full term. People of the constituency are with me, and I will contest the 2024 assembly polls from here,” he had said.