The Orissa High Court on Wednesday imposed a cost of Rs 10,000 on Congress MlA of Sundargarh constituency Jogesh Kumar Singh for being unable to produce his witness in the court for examination in an election petition pending against him.
Despite repeated notices when Singh failed to comply with them, Justice BK Nayak imposed the fine. Singh had also been fined by the High Court in May 2016 for a similar failure.
Singh’s election to the Assembly in the May 2014 elections has been challenged by his BJD rival Kusum Tete, who lost to Singh by a margin of 2,584 votes. Besides, a voter of the constituency, Ajay Patel, too has challenged the election of Singh in the High Court.