Major relief for Kerala CPI(M) legislator as SC dismisses HC’s disqualification order

New Delhi/Thiruvananthapuram: CPI(M) legislator A. Raja on Tuesday got relief from the Supreme Court, which upheld his appeal challenging the Kerala High Court’s disqualification order against him as an MLA in 2023.

Raja is an MLA from Devikulam, an Assembly seat reserved for the Scheduled Caste community.

Two years ago, the Kerala High Court ordered his disqualification in a case filed by Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) candidate D. Kumar, stating that Raja did not belong to the Scheduled Caste community for which the Devikulam seat is reserved. Soon after the order, Raja had filed an appeal petition before the apex court.

On Tuesday, after a long legal battle, the Supreme Court upheld his appeal and ordered to reimburse all the benefits which was put on hold following the High Court verdict disqualifying him as a legislator.

Reacting to this verdict, Raja, the first time CPI(M) legislator, said he was extremely delighted with the verdict.

“When the High Court verdict came, there were flaws in it, and hence I was confident that relief would come from the apex court,” said Raja.

“The Kerala High Court was looking into the rule of settlement of my parents, and there was a rule which said all the benefits of reservation are applicable to those who came before 1950. I had shown all documents to prove that my forefathers settled in 1949, which I had been pointing out, but was overlooked by the High Court. A section of the media also took the wrong position on this matter. After the hearing, the Supreme Court accepted all that we argued. This verdict has a larger context too, as there are many who suffer due to the lack of clarity in the law, and with this verdict, all such issues have been put to rest and will benefit many also. The Congress-led UDF should render an apology for levelling false allegations against me,” said Raja.

Congress candidate D. Kumar began his legal battle when Raja filed his nomination for the 2021 Assembly polls.

Kumar pursued his fight soon after he lost to Raja by 7,848 votes.

The UDF candidate had alleged that Raja was a converted Christian and had submitted fake certificates to make himself eligible to contest the seat. Now, with the apex court clearing it, Raja and the CPI(M) are celebrating.

–IANS