of Allahabad High Court Bail was granted on Saturday. Former MP Dhananjay Singh In connection with the kidnapping and extortion case (of Namami Ganj project manager). However, the court rejected his appeal to set aside or suspend the conviction.
Singh and his colleague Santosh Vikram Singh were sentenced to seven years in prison by an MP/MLA court last month. Challenging their convictions, Singh and his colleagues approached the High Court.
Justice Sanjay Singh's bench emphasized that political purity is essential, and that courts should exercise discretion carefully and judiciously in rare and appropriate cases to uphold convictions. said.
“When criminals like this masquerade as leaders and travesty the entire system, the very future of our democracy is at risk. The trend of criminalization of politics is increasing and dangerous, and along with the growth of corruption of a vast nature, it is steadily eroding the very foundations of democratic politics.'' said one judge.
Given this background and the fact that Singh has won acquittals in 28 criminal cases because witnesses called on behalf of the state turned hostile, he disputes this. 10, and there is no issue at this point.The criminal still has a case pending against him, the court Couldn't find good land To suspend the operation and effect of the judgment of acquittal of conviction passed by the MP/MLA court.
The case against Singh was filed by Abhinav Singhal, a resident of Muzaffarnagar, who was abducted by Singh and his associates and taken to Singh's residence, where the former MP came with a pistol and abused him. They claim that they were forced to provide supplies at low wages. High quality materials for Namami Gandhi Project Scheme.
Mr. Singh had argued in the High Court that the police wrongly implicated him for political reasons and fabricated a false case against him.
His lawyer also claimed that he was a member of the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly twice and once a member of the Lok Sabha. He is now hoping to contest the 2024 parliamentary elections.
In view of this, it was prayed that his conviction be stayed so that he can contest the Indian Parliament polls. Otherwise, he will not be able to compensate for his losses in the event of an irrevocable acquittal in the future.
Bearing in mind the facts of the case and the fact that there is a lack of sequence of charges, the court finds that the accused/appellants are entitled to the benefit of the doubt for the purpose of obtaining grant of bail and suspension of sentence. he admitted.
However, the court refused to suspend his conviction, holding that:
“It is common to see people who have been members of the Legislative Assembly or Parliament, or who have been convicted of a crime and then filed a general petition for a stay and validity of the conviction, wanting to contest the election. If his conviction is not set aside, he will be deprived of the right to contest the election, causing irreparable loss and injury, but this court will not only consider every case, but will also We believe that cases should be decided on their own merits.the surrounding circumstances and other accompanying factors such as the seriousness of the crime and the nature of any past criminal history;”
“The objective sought to be achieved by instituting disqualification for conviction of certain crimes is to prevent persons with criminal records from entering politics and governance. People with criminal records taint the electoral process because they do not hesitate to commit crimes to win elections.When people with long criminal histories become elected representatives and become legislators, they pose a serious threat to the functioning of democratic institutions.” it further added as the court refused to grant him relief with a stay of conviction.
This resulted in his appeal being listed for final hearing.
Case title – Dhananjay Singh and another vs State of UP 2024 LiveLaw (AB) 268
