Axon and PP Rao bail out Congress MP Suresh Kodukunnil

The Supreme Court has stayed the Kerala High Court judgment which had declared the election of Congress MP Kodukunnil Suresh as void. The MP hailed from Kerala\'s Mavelikara (Reserved SC) Lok Sabha constituency and was disqualified on the charge of holding a false caste certificate.

The Supreme Court has stayed the Kerala High Court judgment which had declared the election of Congress MP Kodukunnil Suresh as void. The MP hailed from Kerala\'s Mavelikara (Reserved SC) Lok Sabha constituency and was disqualified on the charge of holding a false caste certificate.

A bench of Justices Altamas Kabir and A.K. Patnaik, while staying the HC order, posted the matter for final disposal on September 16. The apex court 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 by the High Court.

The Supreme Court passed the order on an appeal filed by the MP 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. In the 194-page judgment, Justice Nambiar held that he is ‘disqualified’ to contest from the Mavelikkara constituency as it is reserved for the Schedule Castes. The court found that Suresh had produced contradictory caste certificates issued by tehsildars of Kottarakara and Nedumangad. Media reports indicate that Suresh first entered the Lok Sabha in 1989 from the Adoor constituency and subsequently thrice from the same constituency in 1991, 1996 and 1998 and was declared elected from Mavelikkara with a majority of 48,046 votes in the 2009 elections.

Axon Partners briefed Senior Counsel P.P. Rao who argued on behalf of the Kerala MP. Partner Abhimanyu Bhandari led the Axon team. The lawyers on record were Lawyers Knit & Co.