In a major relief to beleaguered Barabati-Cuttack MLA
Congress Mohammad Moquim, the Orissa High Court on Wednesday granted a stay on the conviction order passed by a Special Vigilance Court, which had last month sentenced him to undergo three years of
rigorous imprisonment (RI) in a loan fraud case. The High Court’s
respite means Moquim will retain his membership in the Legislative
Assembly for the remaining period of his term that had begun on May
23, 2019.
As an engineer when Moquim was heading a construction
firm in 2000, the company was illegally awarded a loan of Rs 1.5 crore by the State-run Odisha Rural Housing Development Corporation (OHRDC) by the strength of certain forged documents and without adequate security. The loan was disbursed in a hurry intending to bring pecuniary loss to the OHRDC, for which Moquim and four others,
including dismissed IAS officer Vinod Kujmar, were convicted by the Vigilance Court.
Moquim was sentenced to undergo three-year RI for each count of offenses under Sections 468, 471, 420 and 120-B of IPC and was awarded a fine of Rs 50,000 for each offence. Aggrieved Moquim preferred an appeal in the High Court with three interlocutory applications praying for bail pending appeal for a stay on realisation of the fine and for suspension of the conviction. The High Court had earlier allowed his first two appeals and completed the hearing on the third appeal on October 10.
Delivering the verdict on the third appeal on Wednesday, Justice BP Routray said that keeping in view Moquim’s position as an MLA, the loss befalling on him due to conviction would be irreparable unless the conviction is stayed.
“This will also lead to an untimely by-election to burden the public
exchequer. Further considering the limited period of his sentence for
three years and the offenses involved, which are neither punishable
with death or life imprisonment, it is felt apposite to grant a stay of the conviction pending appeal,” Justice Routray said in his 15-page order and posted the matter to February 22, 2023 for next hearing.