Rakesh Sachan, MSME Minister in the Yogi Adityanath-led Uttar Pradesh cabinet, has been sentenced to one year in prison in the 1991 Arms Act case.
The sentencing was announced on Monday by a Kanpur court.
Sachan heads the medium, small and micro enterprises and khadi departments in the Uttar Pradesh government.
A court here on August 6 held Sachan guilty in a three-decade-old Arms Acts case, after which the leader “disappeared” from the courtroom “without furnishing bail bonds”.
The minister, however, denied the disappearance charge, claiming his case “wasn’t listed for the final verdict”.
The minister is also accused of fleeing the court with a copy of the court order after he was found guilty under the Arms Act.
Sources said the minister is likely to appear in the court n Monday for bail to file an appeal in the sessions court against the trial court's order of conviction.
Sachan had joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) after leaving the Congress just before the assembly polls earlier this year.
(with PTI inputs)
This is a developing story.
