Relief for CPM MLA A Raja as Kerala HC puts interim stay on his disqualification from Devikulam constituency

The Kerala High Court however ruled that during the stay period, the MLA should not receive benefits or exercise voting rights in Kerala legislative assembly.

Kochi:Day after declaring the assembly election of CPM MLA A Raja from Devikulam constituency as void, the Kerala High Court on Tuesday put an interim stay on the order thereby giving Raja a temporary relief. Sources said that the High Court put an interim stay on the execution of the judgment canceling Raja's election from the Devikulam constituency in the 2021 assembly election.

The court granted a stay of 10 days to approach the Supreme Court. The court however put a caveat that during the stay period, the MLA should not receive benefits or exercise voting rights in Kerala legislative assembly. The stay comes a day after the High Court annulled Raja's election from the constituency on grounds that he had submitted wrong information to the Returning Officer identifying himself from the Hindu community despite having already converted to Christianity.

The Kerala High Court said Raja was not qualified to contest in Idukki Devikulam, a Scheduled Caste reserved constituency. The court order came on a petition filed by D Kumar of the UDF who was Raja's rival candidate in the election. The petitioner alleged that A Raja contested the election by producing a fake caste certificate.

The High Court held that Raja cannot be said to belong to the Hindu religious community and the Returning Officer should have rejected Raja's nomination. The petitioner's contention was that Raja was the son of a couple who received baptism at Mattupetti Kundala CSI Church. Raja also received baptism in the same church and became a Christian.

The court annulled the election results after examining the church's family register including Raja's wedding photo.