E-Paper
Orissa high court annuls election of Congress MLA Mohammed Moquim
The high court judge annulled the election 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 Orissa high court on Monday annulled the election of Congress MLA Mohammed Moquim on grounds of suppression of criminal cases pending against him, less than two weeks before the announcement of elections to the Lok Sabha and the state assembly.
High court judge justice SK Sahoo annulled the election 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 the 2019 assembly polls.
The HC also observed that the affidavit was not properly checked by the Returning Officer and hence it be declared invalid.
Biju Janata Dal leader Debashish Samantray had challenged the Moquim’s election in 2019 after losing the polls by 3827 votes. Samantray, who was elected to the Rajya Sabha last month. also alleged that Moquim did not disclose correct facts about his assets and liabilities.
In January this year, the Congress had revoked the suspension of Moquim a year after he was punished for voting in favour of President Droupadi Murmu in the Presidential election, going against the party decree.
