BJP MLA sentenced to 2-year imprisonment, faces disqualification from UP Assembly

The court granted bail to the BJP MLA after the sentencing, district government counsel (criminal) Munnu Lal Mishra said

Bahraich: A local court has sentenced a BJP MLA to two years in prison in a 21-year-old case, a jail term that could lead to his disqualification from the Uttar Pradesh Assembly, a government counsel said on Friday.

Sureshwar Singh, an MLA from Mahasi assembly seat of this district, was convicted on Thursday for threatening a Sub-Divisional Magistrate (SDM) in 2002, district government counsel (criminal) Munnu Lal Mishra told PTI.

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The court granted bail to the MLA after the sentencing, Mishra said.

Under the provisions of the Representation of the People Act (RPA) 1951, any public representative sentenced to imprisonment of two years or more is disqualified from the date of sentence and is barred from contesting elections for the next six years after serving the sentence.

According to the prosecution, on September 2, 2002, Mahasi tehsil SDM Lal Mani Mishra had filed a case against the Mahasi MLA at the Hardi Police Station here.

The SDM had alleged that Singh had barged into his office and created obstruction in government work.

The complainant also said that the MLA misbehaved with him and threatened him. On Friday, the MP-MLA court of Judge Anupam Dixit sentenced Singh to two years’ jail and imposed a fine of Rs 2,500.

According to the order, if the MLA fails to pay the fine, he will have to serve seven more days in jail.

After the sentencing, the BJP MLA, who was in the courtroom, applied for bail that was granted by the court.

According to the police, Singh had gone to the then SDM’s office in September 2002 regarding a public matter and had a clash with the officer over some issue, following which an FIR was lodged.

Several public representatives of the state have been disqualified from membership after being sentenced by the court.

Bharatiya Janata Party MLA Ramdular Gond from Duddhi in Sonbhadra district was disqualified from membership of the Uttar Pradesh Assembly on December 23 after he was sentenced in a rape case on December 15 last year.

In October 2022, Rampur Samajwadi Party (SP) MLA Azam Khan was disqualified from membership after being sentenced by the court in the hate speech case. His MLA son Abdullah Azam was disqualified from membership of the Suar assembly after being sentenced in a case relating to creating obstruction in government work and protesting in February 2023.

BJP MLA from Khatauli, Muzaffarnagar, Vikram Singh Saini was disqualified from membership of the Uttar Pradesh Assembly in October 2022 after he was sentenced to two years’ imprisonment in a case related to the 2013 Muzaffarnagar riots.

Kuldeep Singh Sengar, BJP MLA from Unnao’s Bangarmau constituency, was disqualified from the Uttar Pradesh Assembly in 2020 after being convicted in a rape case. Sengar had already been expelled by the BJP.

Bahujan Samaj Party MP from Ghazipur, Afzal Ansari, was disqualified as a Lok Sabha member after he was convicted in a kidnapping and murder case and sentenced to four years in prison by an Uttar Pradesh court in May last year.

BJP MLA from Gosaiganj in Ayodhya district, Inder Pratap Tiwari alias Khabbu Tiwari, was disqualified in the last session of the assembly after he was convicted and sentenced by a court in a fake mark sheet case.

On April 19, 2019, Hamirpur BJP MLA Ashok Chandel was disqualified from membership of the assembly after he was sentenced to life imprisonment in a murder case.