Overview
- Bharti, convicted with ex-bank employee Raghuvir Sharan Prajapati, received a three-year jail term on Thursday at Delhi’s Rouse Avenue court, which also imposed fines and granted both bail to file appeals.
- The case stems from a 1998 fixed deposit of Rs 10 lakh at a 13.5% rate, with forged entries extending the three-year term so annual interest could be withdrawn until 2011, yielding about Rs 18.5 lakh in wrongful gains.
- The court found criminal conspiracy, cheating, and multiple counts of forgery under IPC Sections 120B, 420, 467, 468, and 471, and it rejected Bharti’s claim of political targeting as speculative.
- The Supreme Court had moved the trial from Madhya Pradesh to Delhi in October 2025 after claims that defence witnesses were intimidated, a step the judge cited to ensure a fair proceeding.
- If higher courts uphold the sentence, Bharti could be disqualified as an MLA, and the judge said recovered fines should go as compensation to the head cooperative bank, which now oversees the liquidated Datia unit.