HC rejects Pappu’s petition to contest LS polls

In a setback for RJD MP Pappu Yadav, the Patna High Court on Thursday rejected his petition seeking suspension of conviction in CPI(ML) leader Ajit Sarkar murder case to enable him to contest the Lok Sabha polls.

In a setback for RJD MP Pappu Yadav, the Patna High Court on Thursday rejected his petition seeking suspension of conviction in CPI(ML) leader Ajit Sarkar murder case to enable him to contest the Lok Sabha polls.

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A division bench comprising Justices Shiva Kirti Singh and Dharnidhar Jha, which had earlier reserved its order on March 26, disallowed him from contesting elections as he had been convicted in the Sarakar murder case.

Senior Supreme Court advocate RK Anand along with Majid Memon, appearing for Pappu Yadav, had contended that the RJD MP had been convicted in Sarkar murder case on the basis of retracted confessional statement of Rajan Tiwari, a co-accused, which is not admissible under the law.

Citing an apex court judgement in cricketer Navjot Singh Sidhu’s case, Anand had said that if the conviction was not not stayed by the court, the RJD MP would face irreparable loss as a politician in the event of his getting acquitted by the court at a later stage.

Opposing Pappu’s submissions, CBI counsel Bipin Kumar Sinha and informant counsel Vindhyachal Singh contended that Yadav’s case could not not be equated with that of the cricketer’s case.