TNI Bureau: Supreme Court on Tuesday though granted bail to the Barabari-Cuttack Congress MLA Mohamed Moquim in the Orissa Rural Housing Development Corporation (ORHDC) loan fraud case. However, it did not stay his conviction, which means he might not contest the upcoming Assembly elections in Odisha.

It is to be noted here that Moquim had moved the apex court after the Orissa High Court though granted him interim bail on a bail bond of Rs 1 lakh with two sureties but upheld the conviction of rigorous imprisonment for three years awarded to him by the Special Judge (Vigilance), Bhubaneswar in the ORHDC loan fraud case.

The Supreme Court also reportedly accepted Moquim’s petition for hearing the bail petition and issued a notice to Odisha Vigilance in this connection, informed senior lawyers Mukul Rohatgi, S Muralidhar and Pitambar Acharya, who appeared in the court on behalf of him.

“I am thankful to the honourable Supreme Court for accepting petition for hearing the case and granting me relief from being arrest. However, it has not put a stay on the conviction. Therefore, I will have a discussion with the lawyers to know either I can contest the election or not,” he said.

On the other hand, the Odisha Congress is yet to announce its candidate for the Barabati-Cuttack seat which Moquim had won in 2019 elections.