The Orissa High Court on Friday imposed a fine on Barabati-Cuttack MLA Mohammed Moquim again in a false affidavit case.
As the Congress legislator sought more time to appear for testimony in the false affidavit case, the court slapped him with a fine of Rs 10,000 for wasting the court’s valuable time.
According to reports, Moquim was to depose before the court on t he day for his testimony. However, his counsel filed a petition seeking more time for an appearance in court. Expressing dissatisfaction over it, the court imposed the fine on the MLA for wasting its time while allowing him to appear on October 17.
The fine amount will be deposited at the welfare fund of the High Court.
Earlier, Moquim had also been fined for not appearing in court in the false affidavit case. On August 4, the court imposed a fine of Rs 10,000 on Moquim, who had sought time for cross-examination of witnesses in the case.
Notably, an election petition has been filed by BJD leader Debashish Samantaray challenging Moquim’s election to the State Assembly from the Barabati-Cuttack constituency in 2019. Samantaray alleged that Moquim had suppressed facts with respect to the criminal cases pending against him while filing nomination papers for the 2019 Assembly elections.
