Delhi High Court Dismisses Bharati's Petition For Suspension Of Conviction

Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): With barely three days left before the last date for filing nominations for the July 30 by-election to the Datia Assembly constituency, the Delhi High Court on Friday dismissed the petition of disqualified Congress MLA Rajendra Bharati, rejecting his plea for suspension of his conviction in the Gramin Vikas Bank cheating and forgery case.

The high court had reserved its verdict after hearing the matter for two days. Bharati had challenged the trial court's April 01 conviction and the April 02 order sentencing him to three years' imprisonment.

He was convicted for conspiring and tampering with bank records to obtain unauthorised annual interest payments between 1999 and 2011.

Following the conviction, Bharati was disqualified from the Madhya Pradesh Legislative Assembly, and the Vidhan Sabha annulled his membership from the Datia seat, leading to the announcement of the by-election.

"Delhi HC has dismissed the petition of Rajendra Bharati, rejecting his plea to suspend his conviction." - Vivek Tankha, senior advocate

According to a complaint filed in 2015 by the District Cooperative Agriculture and Rural Development Bank, Datia, Bharati, then chairman of the bank, influenced officials to extend the tenure of a fixed deposit of Rs 10 lakh from three years to 15 years.