HC imposes cost on Odisha Cong MLA

The Orissa High Court today imposed a cost of Rs 5,000 on Congress legislator of Sundargarh Assembly segment Jogesh Kumar Singh for being unable to produce his witness in the court for examination in the two election petitions pending against him.
Despite repeated HC notices when the MLA failed to comply with them, Justice B N Rath imposed the costs on him at Rs 2,500 in each case.
The May 2014 election of the Congress MLA was challenged by local BJD leader Kusum Tete.
The BJD leader had lost to Singh by a margin of 2,584 votes in the elections. Similarly, another voter of the segment Ajay Patel too has challenged Singh's election.