Overview
- The Delhi High Court on Friday dismissed Rajendra Bharti’s plea to suspend his conviction in a decades-old cooperative bank fraud case, keeping the trial court’s finding of guilt in place.
- A special court in New Delhi had convicted Bharti on April 1 and sentenced him on April 2 to three years in prison for criminal conspiracy, cheating and multiple forgery offences.
- The High Court had earlier stayed only the three-year jail term on April 28 while Bharti’s appeal proceeded but declined on Friday to stay the underlying conviction that triggered his disqualification.
- Because Indian law disqualifies any legislator sentenced to two or more years in prison, Bharti’s membership of the Madhya Pradesh Assembly was annulled and the Datia seat declared vacant, clearing the way for a bypoll scheduled for July 30.
- Bharti may still seek further relief from the Supreme Court but for now the ruling ends the immediate legal barrier to nominations and forces major parties to pick candidates for the Datia contest.