Congress faces setback in Odisha as HC upholds conviction of its MLA

In September 2022, Cuttack-Barabati MLA Mohammed Moquim, the managing director of Metro Builders Pvt Ltd, former IAS officer Vinod Kumar and others were convicted by a vigilance court for obtaining pecuniary advantage in favour of Moquim’s company in guide of loans meant for rural poor from Odisha Rural Housing and Development Corporation Ltd

Mohammed Moquim was suspended from the party in July last year for “anti-party” activities, which was revoked in January. He is a front runner for Congress ticket from Cuttack-Barabati seat. X/Mohammed Moquim

In a setback for Congress’s Cuttack-Barabati MLA Mohammed Moquim, the Orissa High Court Wednesday upheld the verdict of a special vigilance court that sentenced Moquim and others to a three-year imprisonment in a decade-old loan irregularities case.

On September 29, 2022, Moquim, the managing director of Metro Builders Pvt Ltd, former IAS officer Vinod Kumar and others were convicted by a vigilance court for obtaining pecuniary advantage in favour of Moquim’s company in guide of loans meant for rural poor from Odisha Rural Housing and Development Corporation Ltd (ORHDC).

Moquim had moved the Orissa HC challenging the order. The HC on October 19, 2022 had stayed the conviction pending appeal.

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The Odisha vigilance then filed a special leave petition before the Supreme Court against the October 19 order of the HC. The SC on September 22, ordered the HC to dispose of the appeal within six months.

“The Orissa HC passed the order today dismissing the appeal filed by Moquim, upholding the conviction order passed by the vigilance court,” said a senior vigilance officer.

“I respect the order of the Orissa HC. I will consult legal experts before deciding my next course of action,” Moquim told reporters in Cuttack.

Moquim was earlier suspended from Congress

Despite Congress’s drubbing in the 2019 Assembly polls in Odisha with the party bagging only 9 of the 147 seats, Moquim managed to win the Cuttack-Barabati seat by defeating BJD’s Debashish Samantaray because of his organisational strength.

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In the 2022 presidential election, Moquim went against party diktat and voted for NDA’s presidential candidate Droupadi Murmu, who hails from Odisha.

The Cuttack-Barabati MLA was also suspended from the party in July last year for “anti-party” activities, which was revoked in January. He is a front runner for Congress ticket from Cuttack-Barabati seat.

In March, the SC stayed the Orissa HC order that nullified Moquim’s 2019 election on the grounds of suppression of criminal cases pending against him.

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