Bhopal News: Datia MLA Rajendra Bharti Found Guilty In Embezzlement, Sent To Jail

Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): The state Congress has suffered a setback after a Delhi MP-MLA court found Datia legislator Rajendra Bharti guilty in a 25-year-old embezzlement case.

Following the verdict, the court sent Bharti to Tihar Jail on Wednesday. The court will hear arguments on Thursday before deciding the sentence. If he is awarded a jail term of more than two years, he will lose his Assembly membership.

Bharti was elected in 2023 after defeating BJP leader Narottam Mishra. In a separate case, the High Court recently found Congress legislator Mukesh Malhotra from Vijaypur guilty in a corruption case, but he has obtained relief from the Supreme Court.

The case dates back to 1998, when Bharti was chairman of a cooperative bank in Datia. His mother, Savitri Shyam, had an FDR of Rs10 lakh made at the bank in her capacity as chairperson of Shyam Sundar Sansthan. Bharti was both the bank s chairman and a trustee of the sansthan.

According to the findings, Bharti extended the FDR period from three years to 10 years and later to 15 years by forging bank documents. After he left the bank, an audit raised objections to the extension without approval, following which the bank approached the Chief Judicial Magistrate s court.

A bank employee, Raghuveer Sharan Sahay, was also found guilty in the case.

Bypoll likely if sentence exceeds two years

If Bharti is sentenced to more than two years, he may lose his Assembly membership, triggering a byelection in Datia.

Bharti had defeated senior BJP leader Narottam Mishra in the 2023 Assembly elections. If convicted and sentenced, he may approach the High Court or the Supreme Court against the order.