Delhi high court refuses to stay conviction of disqualified Congress MLA Rajendra Bharti in cheating case

NEW DELHI: The Delhi high court on Friday refused to suspend the conviction of disqualified Madhya Pradesh Congress MLA Rajendra Bharti in a cheating case linked to the alleged forgery of bank records to secure illegal interest payments between 1998 and 2011.Dismissing Bharti's plea seeking a stay on his conviction, Justice Manoj Jain said, "We are dismissing it."The high court had, however, stayed the three-year jail term awarded to the former legislator on April 28 after he challenged the trial court's verdict.Bharti, who previously served as chairperson of the Zila Sahkari Krishi Aur Grahmin Vikas Bank, was sentenced to three years' imprisonment by a trial court on April 2.

A day earlier, on April 1, the court had convicted him under various provisions of the Indian Penal Code, including Sections 120B (criminal conspiracy), 420 (cheating), 467 (forgery of valuable security), 468 (forgery for cheating) and 471 (using forged documents as genuine).During the proceedings, Bharti's counsel had argued that staying the conviction would remove the basis for his disqualification and prevent his assembly seat from being declared vacant.

The case, originally registered in Madhya Pradesh's Datia district, was transferred to Delhi by the Supreme Court in October last year after allegations that defence witnesses were being intimidated.According to the prosecution, Bharti's late mother, Savitri, deposited Rs 10 lakh in the Zila Sahkari Krishi Aur Grahmin Vikas Bank in Datia on August 24, 1998, as a fixed deposit in the name of a family-run trust for a period of three years at an annual interest rate of 13.5 per cent.Investigators alleged that the accused conspired to continue receiving the high interest rate beyond the original maturity period by tampering with the bank's records.The prosecution claimed that correction fluid and overwriting were used to extend the tenure of the fixed deposit by 10 and 15 years, enabling the trust to continue withdrawing annual interest payments until 2011 despite a sharp fall in prevailing market rates.It further alleged that the trust, of which Bharti was a trustee, withdrew substantial sums as interest through the forged records.(With PTI inputs)