Vigilance court order may hurt Moquim political career

Bhubaneswar: Congress’s Barabati-Cuttack legislator Mohammed Moquim (57), who was recently in the news for voting in favour of NDA presidential candidate Droupadi Murmu, finds himself staring down the barrel following his conviction and prison sentence in a vigilance case here on Thursday.
The vigilance court sentenced Moquim to three years of rigorous imprisonment and imposed a fine of Rs 50,000 for defrauding Orissa Rural Housing Development Corporation (ORHDC) of Rs 1.5 crore. Four others, including former IAS officer Vinod Kumar, was also sentenced to prison.
Moquim, a first-time MLA, got instant relief and was not sent to jail as he sentenced for only three years. As per law, a trial court that sentences a person up to three years in prison can give him/her instant bail. The convict can move an upper court, challenging the trial court’s order. However, Moquim’s trouble is far from over as far as the Representation of People Act (RPA), 1951, is concerned.
The RPA provides for disqualification of membership of MLAs who have been fined or convicted with a punishment of more than 2 years and additionally lays down restriction on candidates from contesting for 6 years from the end of the sentence period.
“Even if he manages to get a stay order from the upper court, he will still continue to face disqualification of his membership. If he gets a stay order on his conviction, then only the disqualification criterion will not apply on him. The election commission has the power now to initiate the disqualification process against Moquim even if he has been convicted”, said D P Das, a senior lawyer.
The Congress state unit, that had earlier served a show-cause notice to Moquim for voting in favour of Murmu, said they would seek legal opinions to ensure that his membership is not cancelled.
“We will go through the order copy and explore legal options,” Congress state president Sarat Pattanayak said. The BJD and BJP did not react to Moquim’s conviction.