ORHDC loan fraud case: Supreme Court suspends the sentence of Congress MLA Mohammed Moquim
In a relief to Congress MLA Mohammed Moquim, the Supreme Court (SC) of India on April 23, 2024, suspended his sentence in the Orissa Rural Housing Development Corporation (ORHDC) loan fraud matter. Earlier on April 16, the top court exempted Congress MLA from surrendering until the next hearing. Yesterday (April 23), the matter was heard by a two-judge bench constituting Justice Surya Kant and Justice Dipankar Datta. The senior Congress leader approached the SC against the order of the Orissa High Court that affirmed his sentence of 3 years by the Special Judge (Vigilance), Bhubaneswar. The SC ordered, “Issue notice. Standing counsel accepts notice on behalf of the State…Post the matter for hearing…Having heard the senior counsel for the parties and taking into consideration all the attending circumstances, the sentence of the petitioner is ordered to be suspended subject to…his bail bonds.”
The Congress leader, being the Managing Director of M/s. Metro Builders Pvt. Ltd. applied for a loan of Rs. 1.5 crores to the ORHDC, which was established as a government-owned corporation to promote, finance, and develop rural housing, for its project Metro City II. It was further alleged that the appellant forged various documents while applying for loan. The Trial Court found him guilty of several offences under the Indian Penal Code and awarded a 3-year sentence to him. The Orissa HC upheld the same and said “When the Appellant is the undisputed Managing Director of M/s. Metro Builders Pvt. Ltd. and he has played his active role for getting the building plan approved and the loan amount was sanctioned in favor of the company on his application, the same coupled with the irregularities committed while sanctioning the loan, the criminal intent of the appellant is established having direct nexus with the offences committed.”
During the proceedings, Senior Advocate Mukul Rohatgi, Senior Advocate S Muralidhar, Advocate Sanchit Garga, and Advocate Mithu Jain appeared for the petitioner. After hearing the matter on April 23, the SC bench suspended the sentence of Congress MLA Mohammed Moquim.
