Kochi, July 28: The Kerala High Court Wednesday gave relief to five-time Congress Lok Sabha member Kodikunnil Suresh by staying for three weeks a verdict annulling his election as MP from a constituency reserved for Scheduled Castes.
Suresh had filed a petition asking the court to stay the verdict for a month so that he could approach the apex court.
Justice Sasidharan Nambiar granted him three weeks time, but made it clear that during this time he could only attend parliament session but not be eligible for allowances or take part in voting in the Lok Sabha.
The high court had Monday annulled his election as a Lok Sabha member holding that he was ineligible to contest from Mavelikara constituency in Alappuzha district.
Nambiar had ruled that Suresh was not qualified to be a candidate in the Scheduled Caste category and his nomination should not have been accepted. He was ruling on a petition filed by R.S. Anil of the Communist Party of India, whom Suresh defeated in 2009 by a margin of more than 40,000 votes, and two others.
Suresh had previously won four times (1989, 1991, 1996 and 1999) from the Adoor reserved constituency. The petitioners had informed the court that Suresh was born a Christian.