SC stays HC order setting aside election of Congress MLA in 2019 Odisha assembly polls

The Supreme Court on Monday stayed the Odisha High Court's order setting aside the election of Congress leader Mohammed Moquim as MLA from the Barabati assembly constituency in Cuttack in 2019.

The apex court, however, clarified that the stay order was subject to the condition that Moquim will not be entitled to cast vote in the assembly proceedings.

''Issue notice (to the parties concerned), returnable on May 10, 2024. Meanwhile, the operation of the impugned judgment shall remain stayed, subject to the condition that the appellant shall not be entitled to cast a vote in the assembly proceedings,'' a bench of Justices Surya Kant and K V Viswanathan said.

The bench passed the order while hearing Moquim's plea challenging the high court order of March 4.

The apex court permitted Moquim, who was represented by senior advocates S Muralidhar and Pitambar Acharya, to participate in the assembly proceedings and said that he was entitled to all the perks and facilities as an MLA.

Moquim's election in the Odisha Assembly polls of 2019 was challenged before the high court by Debashish Samantaray, the unsuccessful Biju Janata Dal (BJD) candidate.

The grounds for the challenge were that Moquim allegedly suppressed information regarding 13 criminal cases pending against him and that he did not divulge complete details of his property.

Despite the improper presentation in his nomination paper, the returning officer wrongly accepted it, Samantaray's plea in the high court had claimed.

On March 4 this year, the high court set aside his election, saying the result of the election had been "materially affected" and it cannot be said that Moquim was "duly elected." "It is declared that the election of the respondent (Moquim) as MLA from the Barabati-Cuttack assembly constituency held in April 2019 is void and the same is hereby set aside. Resultantly, a casual vacancy in the said constituency has occurred," the high court had said.

In his plea assailing the high court order, Moquim has said, "The pleadings of the respondent (Samantaray) in the election petition before the Odisha High Court are unnecessary, scandalous, frivolous or vexatious and by no means can hold the nomination form of the appellant (Moquim) to be invalid." The plea said the high court declared Moquim's election as invalid "without due appreciation of the facts" and by proceeding in "an erroneous manner." In Odisha, which comprises 21 Lok Sabha seats and 147 Assembly segments, elections are scheduled to be held in four phases on May 13, May 20, May 25, and June 1.

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