Kochi: The Kerala High Court on Tuesday dismissed the plea filed by CPM MLA A Raja seeking to extend the stay on the order cancelling his membership in the legislature.
The High Court had granted Raja 10 days considering his decision to appeal against the verdict in the Supreme Court.
High Court Justice P Somarajan, while delivering the verdict, said Raja was not qualified to contest from Idukki's Devikulam, which is a constituency reserved for members belonging to Scheduled Castes.
"At the time of filing his nomination, Raja was a Christian and not a member of the Hindu Parayar community as he claimed. There was a deliberate attempt to hide the truth," the court pointed out.
It also opined that the election returning officer should have rejected Raja's nomination in the scrutiny stage.
The petition challenging Raja's caste was filed by the opposing Congress candidate D Kumar. In his petition, Kumar stated that Raja contested the elections by submitting a fake caste certificate.
However, Raja appealed against the verdict in the Supreme Court. In his petition, Raja reiterated that he belongs to the Paraya community of the Scheduled Caste category as per his birth and school certificates.
"The High Court disqualified me without verifying the official documents," stated the petition.
It was also stated in the appeal petition that Raja's marriage took place as per Hindu customs and that his ancestors migrated to Kerala before 1950.
