Congress MLA Arif Masood Seeks Relief from Supreme Court

  • High Court hearing deferred

Chronicle Reporter, Jabalpur
The Madhya Pradesh High Court’s single bench, led by Justice Vivek Agarwal, granted Congress MLA Arif Masood one final opportunity to submit a list of witnesses in response to the election petition filed against him. During Monday’s hearing, the court was informed that Masood had approached the Supreme Court, challenging the High Court’s refusal to grant him additional time to present his case and submit the witness list.

The single bench stated that further hearings in the case would take place after the Supreme Court delivers its decision.

The election petition was filed by Dhruv Narayan Singh, the defeated BJP candidate from the Bhopal Central constituency, challenging Masood’s election victory. Singh alleged that Masood had failed to disclose a loan from the SBI Ashok Nagar branch taken in the names of Masood and his wife in his nomination papers.

As per Supreme Court directives, the High Court is currently examining documents related to the loan. The court had summoned the former bank manager for testimony and cross-examination. The manager revealed that a fraudulent scheme involving certain bank employees had approved loans under the names of Masood, his wife, and 40 other account holders. This matter is now under investigation by the CBI.

The bank manager further stated that no loan entry exists in the official records under the names of Masood and his wife and that their account had been classified as a non-performing asset (NPA). He also disclosed that he was misled into signing recovery letters, but no formal recovery notice was ever issued to Masood or his wife by the bank.

Masood’s legal team had earlier requested the High Court to dismiss the election petition, claiming the documents were fake. However, the single bench rejected the plea, stating that the documents were neither forged nor fabricated and would be reviewed based on their merits.

The court then directed Masood to submit a revised witness list, granting him one final opportunity to comply. During the previous hearing, Masood was given an extended deadline for submission.

The petitioner’s lawyer, Namrata Pandit, and the respondent MLA’s senior counsel, Ajay Gupta, presented their respective arguments during the hearing.

This case continues to draw attention as the Supreme Court’s decision may have significant implications for the future of Arif Masood’s political career.

 

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