Bhubaneswar: In a relief to the Barabari-Cuttack Congress MLA Mohamed Moquim, the Supreme Court on Tuesday granted him bail in the Orissa Rural Housing Development Corporation (ORHDC) loan fraud case. However, it is still not clear whether this allows him to contest the upcoming Assembly elections in Odisha as the court is yet to stay or rule against his conviction.
Earlier, a Special Vigilance Court had sentenced Mohamed Moquim to a three-year jail term in September 2022. Moquim had, however, obtained interim bail from the Orissa High Court on a bail bond of Rs 1 lakh with two sureties.
The senior Congress leader had moved to the Supreme Court after the Orissa High Court upheld his conviction from the Cuttack-Barabati constituency. The apex court has also accepted Moquim’s petition for hearing the bail petition and issued a notice to Odisha Vigilance in this connection.
The Supreme Court has also accepted the Congress leader’s petition for hearing the bail petition and a notice has been issued to Odisha Vigilance in the matter. Hearing Moquim’s petition, the Supreme Court stayed the decision of the High Court.
Senior lawyers Mukul Rohatgi, S Muralidhar and Pitambar Acharya appeared in the Supreme Court on behalf of the Congress leader.
