Cuttack: Senior Congress leader & Cuttack-Barabati MLA Mohammed Moquim has been granted interim relief from the Supreme Court. The apex court has reprived Moquim from surrendering until the next hearing on April 22 in connection with the Odisha Rural Housing and Development Corporation Ltd (ORHDC) case.
The Orissa High Court had previously upheld the decision of a special vigilance court that had sentenced Moquim and others to three years imprisonment in a loan irregularities case. Moquim, who is the managing director of Metro Builders Pvt Ltd, was convicted by a vigilance court on September 29, 2022, for obtaining a financial benefit on behalf of his company in the form of loans intended for the rural poor from ORHDC.
Moquim appealed the order to the Orissa High Court, which stayed the conviction pending appeal on October 19, 2022. Odisha Vigilance then filed a special leave petition before the Supreme Court against the High Court’s October 19 order. The Apex court ordered the High Court to dispose of the appeal within six months on September 22.
