The Kerala High Court on Thursday stayed the criminal proceedings initiated against A A Azeez, Eravipuram MLA, for six weeks.
Azeez was alleged to have filed a false affidavit before the Election Commission with regard to his educational qualification in 2006.
Justice S S Satheesachandran issued the interim order on the petition filed by the MLA and posted the hearing of the case after three weeks. Based on a complaint filed by M Nisam, the Magistrate Court had taken cognizance of the case and issued summons to the MLA for appearing before the court on July 20. According to the complaint, Azeez had falsely stated in an affidavit filed along with the nomination papers for the 2006 elections that his education qualification was SSLC.
However, in the affidavit filed for the 2011 elections, the accused had stated that he had passed the seventh standard through private examination and later wrote the SSLC selection examination. The petitioner submitted that he had not made any false statements knowingly. Therefore, no offence under any of the sections of the Indian Penal Code could be charged against him. The High Court and the Election Commission had earlier rejected the complaint with respect to the 2006 election. However, the complainant has been unwontedly filing petitions raising similar allegations, Azeez pointed out, and sought to quash the proceedings initiated against him.