Jolt To Moquim, Orissa HC Declares His 2019 Election Invalid

BHUBANESWAR: The Orissa High Court on Monday termed the election of Congress candidate Mohammed Moquim from the Barabati-Cuttack assembly constituency in 2019 as invalid.

Defeated BJD candidate Debashis Samantaray had challenged Moquim's election on the grounds that the Congress nominee suppressed facts about his assets and liabilities and criminal cases pending against him while filing his nomination papers.

Justice Sangam Kumar Sahoo stated that Moquim had not submitted his nomination paper in accordance with Section 33 of the Representation of Peoples’ Act, 1951, making his nomination liable for rejection. The justice also noted that the returning officer should have rejected Moquim's nomination during the scrutiny of the nomination papers but had improperly accepted them.

Moquim was also found to have not made proper and full declarations about the 13 criminal cases pending against him in the affidavit filed with the nomination papers. Justice Sahoo concluded that due to the defects in the nomination papers, the election result concerning Moquim was materially affected, and it could not be said that he was duly elected.