Two Congress MLAs from Rajasthan are among nine people, who were sentenced to one year in jail on Wednesday to block a major road during a protest in 2014.
All nine including Shahpura MLA Manish Yadav and Ladan MLA Mukesh Bhakar were found guilty under section 147 (punishment for riots) and 283 (publicly or due to the danger or obstruction in the line of navigation).
The court of the Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate of Jaipur also imposed a fine of Rs 3,200 on the culprits, including Congress leader Abhishek Chaudhary, who failed in 2023 Rajasthan assembly elections from Zotwara.
Although he has been convicted, Yadav and Bhakar will not have to face disqualification from the Rajasthan Legislative Assembly as the conditions of the jail are mandatory under the representation of the People’s Act, 1951 under two years.
The convicts were part of the August 2014 opposition at the Rajasthan University. According to court documents, protesters from the National Students Union of India (NSUI) and Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) blocked the Jawaharlal Nehru Marg outside the main gate of Rajasthan University for 20 minutes, motivating the police to book them.
Police filed a charge sheet in the case on 11 August 2016. Yadav was then part of the ABVP, but he eventually joined the Congress and won the 2023 assembly poll.
Others found guilty in the case have been identified as Rajesh Meena, Ravi Kirad, Wasim Khan, Drone Yadav, Bhanu Pratap Singh and Vidyadhar Mile.
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Since the crime is bailable, all the culprits have been released on bail immediately after punishment.
Chaudhary (T) Jaipur Court (T) Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate (T) Rajasthan Politics (T) Legal Action (T) Indian Express
