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The Supreme Court on Thursday stayed the Kerala high court judgment which had declared void the election of Congress Member of Parliament Kodukunnil Suresh from Kerala's Mavelikara (Reserved) Lok Sabha constituency on the charge of holding a false caste certificate.
A bench of Justices Aftab Alam and A K Patnaik, while staying the HC order, posted the matter for final disposal on September 16. It also issued notices to Communist Party of India candidate A S Anil Kumar and two other voters N S Saji Kumar and Padmakaran, on whose petition the election was nullified.
The apex court passed the order on an appeal filed by Suresh challenging the high court order. The Kerala high court had on July 26 declared Suresh's election void after holding that he was not entitled to claim the benefits and privileges available to the members of the Scheduled Caste.
Allowing the election petition of defeated candidate Anil Kumar and two others, Justice M Shasdhidharan Nambiar of the high court had found that Suresh was not a member of 'Cheramar' community and thereby he was not a Scheduled Caste.
The court found that Suresh had produced contradictory caste certificates issued by tehsildars of Kottarakara and Nedumangad. In the 194-page judgment, the court criticised the returning officer for accepting the nomination of Suresh without ascertaining his caste status.