KOCHI: The court rejected A Raja's request to extend the stay of the judgment disqualifying him from the post of MLA. With this, A Raja will be disqualified from the post of MLA as the time limit granted by the High Court has expired.

High Court had canceled the Devikulam election last month citing that Raja had contested in the election on the basis of a fake caste certificate. Raja, who is a Christian, was judged by High Court to be ineligible to contest in the Scheduled Caste reserved seat. With this verdict, A Raja was disqualified from the position of MLA. However, the High Court had stayed the verdict of canceling the election for 10 days on March 22 so that Raja can file an appeal in the Supreme Court. High Court has now rejected A Raja's request to extend the stay by another 20 days.

A Raja had filed a petition seeking a stay of one month to file an appeal in the Supreme Court but Justice P Somarajan ruled to give a maximum of ten days. Devikulam election was canceled by the same bench. The court also clarified that even though the stay was granted, Raja cannot participate in voting or receive benefits as a member of the legislature.