High court dismisses appeal, Odisha Congress MLA barred from polls

CUTTACK: Orissa HC Wednesday dismissed Barabati-Cuttack MLA Mohammed Moquim's plea challenging his conviction in a loan scam involving Orissa Rural Housing Development Corporation (ORHDC), scotching Congress leader's prospects of contesting in the upcoming polls.
A special vigilance court in Bhubaneswar had sentenced Moquim to three years imprisonment after convicting him, former IAS officer and MD ORHDC Vinod Kumar and two others in the case on Sept 29, 2022.
With HC confirming his conviction, Moquim's chances of seeking re-election have ended, since the Representation of Peoples Act provides for disqualification of membership of legislators who have been convicted and sentenced for more than two years, and also debars them from contesting .
Moquim, who was elected to the assembly for the first time in 2019, had challenged the trial court order on the ground that it was incurably defective and suffered from gross infirmities.
However, after considering all materials and evidence on record, Justice B P Routray held that the prosecution had successfully proved the charges against the MLA, and found no reason to interfere with the sentencing.
According to case records, the scam involved availing a loan of Rs 1.5 crores illegally as managing director of Metro Builders Private Limited. The offence dated back to the year 2000 and at that time, Moquim was a businessman.