CUTTACK: The Orissa High Court on Monday dismissed Congress MLA Mohammed Moquim’s plea to reject the petition challenging his election from the Barabati Cuttack Assembly constituency in 2019.
Former Barabati Cuttack MLA Debashish Samantaray had filed the election petition. Moquim had filed an interim application (IA) seeking rejection of the election petition.
Dismissing the IA the single judge bench of Justice SK Sahoo directed Moquim to pay cost of `5,000 to Samantaray. “The Court at this stage cannot probe into the facts on the basis of the controversy raised in the IA. Thus, the contentions raised by the learned counsel for the petitioner and the grounds taken in the IA to strike out pleadings of the election petition made in different paragraphs and consequently for dismissal of the election petition at the threshold for want of cause of action, are not tenable in the eyes of law,” Justice Sahoo observed in his 215-page order.
Samantaray had challenged Moquim’s election on the ground that he had suppressed facts related to his pending criminal cases against him while filing his nomination. Justice Sahoo said, “Whether the petitioner has furnished the correct information and whether the result of the election as it concerns the returned candidate has been materially affected on account of wrong information about criminal antecedents stated to have been given by the petitioner (Moquim), are to be adjudicated at the time of trial. During trial, the opposite party (Samantaray) will get his chance to substantiate the accusation labelled by him against the petitioner by adducing evidence.”