October 19
Wednesday, the Orissa High Court granted Mohammed Moquim a substantial reprieve and ordered a stay on his conviction by a vigilance court in connection with a loan scam in Odisha Rural Housing Development Corporation (ORHDC).
If the vigilance court’s verdict had been upheld, Moquim, who represents the Barabati-Cuttack Assembly constituency, would have been disqualified as a member of the Orissa Legislative Assembly. He will now continue to serve as MLA until the next hearing on February 22, next year.
In the loan scam case, the court of Special Judge (Vigilance), Bhubaneswar sentenced the MLA to three years of rigorous imprisonment. During the fraud, Moquim was the Managing Director of Metro Builders Private Limited. Along with him, the former IAS officer and managing director of ORHDC, Vinod Kumar, the company secretary of ORHDC, Swosti Ranjan Mohapatra, and the director of Metro Builders Pvt Ltd, Peeyus Mohanty, were sentenced to three years imprisonment.
