A bench headed by justice Sanjiv Khanna refused to interfere with the October 18 order of the Delhi high court refusing the stay on his conviction.

As the former CM relied on an earlier order of the top court in December 2023 granting stay of conviction to Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) MP Afzal Ansari, the bench clarified that similar relief cannot be given to the petitioner because he is not a sitting legislator.

“This court (in Afzal Ansari case) had exercised its power considering the exceptional situation that the appellant was a sitting member of Parliament. This is not the factual position in the present case,” the bench, also comprising justice Sanjay Kumar, said.

To be sure, Afzal Ansari’s Lok Sabha membership was restored as a consequence of the top court’s decision and allowed him to contest the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. He is currently MP from Ghazipur parliamentary seat.

The court observed that the stay of conviction is not to be issued as a manner of routine but in exceptional circumstances alone.

Appearing for the former CM, senior advocate Amit Kumar cited another decision of the Delhi high court issued in April this year allowing the stay of conviction to former Union minister Dilip Ray to enable him contest elections.

The bench held this reasoning of the HC to be incorrect, stating, “In our opinion, the Delhi high court order in Dilip Ray v CBI case has not properly appreciated the ration in Afzal Ansari case as the prayer for stay of conviction cannot be granted to any person if he wants to stand in election.”

Koda was convicted in December 2017 under the anti-corruption law in a case relating to the allotment of a coal block to a Kolkata-based Vini Iron and Steel Limited during his tenure as chief minister of the state from 2006 to 2008. A special CBI court in Delhi sentenced Koda to undergo rigorous imprisonment for three years.

According to Section 8(1) of the Representation of Peoples Act, a conviction under the Prevention of Corruption Act disqualifies a person from contesting the elections to the Parliament or assembly for six years after undergoing sentence.

Further, the top court noted that in May 2020 too, the Delhi high court had refused to stay Koda’s conviction by a reasoned order. This order was not challenged by him till date.

The Delhi high court on October 18 reiterated its earlier decision of 2020 and refused Koda’s request to stay the operation of the conviction to allow him to file his nomination papers in the Jharkhand assembly elections to be held in two phases on November 13 and 20.

Koda’s legal team argued that his appeal against the conviction was still pending and cited, among others, the Supreme Court’s decision granting the stay of conviction to Congress MP Rahul Gandhi following his conviction in a defamation case. They argued that not allowing Koda to contest not only affected his right to continue in public life but also the electorate’s right to elect him.

The high court, however, stressed that Koda wasn’t an elected representative who incurred disqualification during the tenure of holding public office and there had been no change in circumstances since he last approached the high court for a similar relief in 2019.

“The consequence of a sitting member may have irreversible consequences on a constituency for being left unrepresented and in such rare circumstances, the court would be right in exercising the power to stay the conviction in view of larger social ramifications for the people of the constituency,” the HC had said.