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Punjab minister gets 2 years of prison in 2008 case
Punjab cabinet minister Aman Arora and nine others, including his 85-year-old mother, was sentenced to two years of imprisonment and fined ₹5,000 each in a 2008 assault and trespass case on Thursday.
Punjab cabinet minister Aman Arora and nine others, including his 85-year-old mother, was sentenced to two years of imprisonment and fined ₹5,000 each in a 2008 assault and trespass case on Thursday.
The minister and other accused, however, immediately applied for bail and were granted relief by the court of sub-divisional judicial magistrate, Sunam, till January 21, according to people aware of the matter.
Under the law, Arora’s sentence may lead to his immediate disqualification as MLA if he fails to get his conviction overturned or suspended by a higher court.
“The courts are supreme in this country. The judicial system allows us to appeal in the higher court. I will do so,” Arora, who represents Sunam constituency, said.
The case pertains to a complaint filed by Arora’s brother-in-law Rajinder Deepa, who is also a member of the Shiromani Akali Dal, accusing him and his family of forcibly taking possession of the latter’s house.
According to the people cited above, Deepa said he filed a private complaint in the court after police allegedly refused to register his case.
The minister and the remaining accused were sentenced under section 452 (house-trespass after preparation for hurt, assault or wrongful restraint, 323 (punishment for voluntarily causing hurt), 148 (whoever is guilty of rioting, being armed with a deadly weapon or with anything which, used as a weapon of offence, is likely to cause death) and149 (members of unlawful assembly) of Indian Penal Code.
Under Section 8(3) of the Representation of Peoples Act 1951, a sitting legislator who is convicted for an offence and sentenced to a punishment of two or more years stands disqualified from the date of conviction and for a further period of six years unless they can get the order of conviction suspended.
Asked about his assembly membership, Arora said: “I am not an expert of law. The Punjab legislative speaker or chief minister will take a call.”
Meanwhile, Deepa said: “The speaker should issue his disqualification order. Besides, he should resign on moral grounds.”
