BJP MP to keep Lok Sabha seat as court stays conviction in assault case
Any elected representative who is sentenced for any offence for a period of two years or more faces immediate disqualification under the Representation of People Act, 1951 (RP Act)
The Agra district and sessions court on Monday stayed the conviction of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) parliamentarian and former Union minister Ram Shankar Katheria in a 2011 case, lifting the threat of disqualification from the Lok Sabha.
On Saturday, a special court had convicted Katheria sections 147 (riot) and 323 (voluntarily causing hurt) of Indian Penal Code and sentenced him to two years in jail in a case connected to alleged violence against the officials of a power company. This put his Lok Sabha membership under danger.
Any elected representative who is sentenced for any offence for a period of two years or more faces immediate disqualification under the Representation of People Act, 1951 (RP Act). One provision of the Act that granted three months’ protection from disqualification was struck down in 2013 as ultra vires by the Supreme Court in the Lily Thomas case.
But on Monday, the court of Agra district and sessions judge Vivek Sangal said that the applications for stay and bail were being considered without entering into merits of the order passed by the lower court.
The judge asked the MP to submit an undertaking for the stay to continue till the disposal of his appeal.
The court also granted bail to Katheria till the disposal of an appeal on the submission of a personal bond of ₹20,000 and sureties within one week.
“The District Government Counsel (DGC) was not able to oppose positively on technical issue raised by appellant that FIR was registered on 16.11.2011 but order for cognizance passed on 06.12.2016 which is time barred,” held the Court of District and Session Judge in its order passed on Monday while staying the order by lower court.
“Justice has been imparted to me. I respect the order passed by the court today (Monday). The FIR and case registered against me, which led to my conviction by the lower court, was politically motivated. I had been taking up issues related to the common man and will continue to do so,” Katheria said.
On Saturday, the court of the special magistrate (MP/MLA) in Agra sentenced Katheria to two years’ imprisonment and imposed a penalty of ₹50,000. WHAT DID IT SAY? WHAT WERE THE CHARGES? WHAT WERE THE REASONS?
On November 16, 2011, a case was registered at the Hari Parvat police station in Agra on the complaint of the staff of Torrent Power Limited, a private power distribution company which which looks after power supply in Agra. The first information report (FIR) said Katheria allegedly thrashed Torrent officials while they were hearing complaints in their office. The case was registered under Sections 147 (riot) and 323 (voluntarily causing hurt) of the Indian Penal Code. Katheria was the the BJP MP from Agra at the time.
After the special court’s verdict on Saturday, Katheria filed an appeal in the court of the Agra district and sessions judge on Monday. The BJP MP also moved application number 7B under section 389 (1) of the Criminal Procedure Code and complained that the maximum punishment in the relevant crime was awarded by the lower court without providing sufficient ground for doing so. Thus, he sought a stay against implementation of the order.
REACTIONS.
The Opposition also referred to the fate of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, who had to wait 134 days for his conviction in a criminal defamation case to be stayed, by the Supreme Court. ANY QUOTE
The BJP fielded Katheria from the Agra reserved constituency in 2009 when the Bahujan Samaj Party was in power in Uttar Pradesh. He won the seat and retained it in 2014. He was sworn in as Union minister of state for human resource development and remained in office till 2016. He later became chairman of the National Commission for Scheduled Castes in New Delhi. He was asked to contest from Etawah in 2019 and won.
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