Rape case: BJP MLA from Uttar Pradesh Ramdular Gond has been sentenced to 25 years of rigorous imprisonment for the rape of a girl nine years ago. This judgment carries significant consequences, potentially resulting in his disqualification from the Uttar Pradesh Assembly.
According to the Representation of the People Act, a lawmaker sentenced to imprisonment of two years or more shall be disqualified "from the date of such conviction" and remain disqualified for another six years after serving time.
Court slapped Rs 10 lakh fine
Ahsan Ullah Khan, the additional district and session judge of the MP-MLA court in Sonbhadra, also levied a fine of Rs 10 lakh on Gond, which will be utilized for the rehabilitation of the rape survivor.
The rape survivor is now married and the mother of an eight-year-old girl.
Special Public Prosecutor Satyaprakash Tripathi said that the court found the MLA from the Duddhi assembly seat, which is reserved for Scheduled Tribes, guilty on December 12.
What is the case?
The incident occurred in 2014, and a case was registered against Gond under Indian Penal Code (IPC) sections 376 (rape) and 506 (punishment for criminal intimidation), as well as under the provisions of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, based on the complaint of the rape survivor's brother.
Tripathi said that Gond was not an MLA at the time of the incident, but his wife was a gram pradhan. The trial initially began in a POCSO court but was later transferred to the MP-MLA court after Gond was elected as a legislator.
Prior to the announcement of the verdict on Friday, the MLA's attorney appealed to the court for the imposition of the minimum penalty. The lawyer also guaranteed the court that Gond would provide all necessary support to the family of the rape survivor.
The brother of the rape survivor expressed contentment with the court's decision, stating that she had received justice after a prolonged period of struggle. The MLA, who was incarcerated in the district jail, was brought to the court and returned to prison after the verdict was delivered.
Uttar Pradesh MLAs who faced similar action
Facing the possibility of losing his Assembly membership, Gond is poised to join a list of lawmakers from Uttar Pradesh who have encountered similar consequences in the past.
In October 2022, Azam Khan, a leader from the Samajwadi Party holding the Rampur Sadar seat in the Assembly, and Vikram Singh Saini from the BJP, serving as an MLA from Khatauli in Muzaffarnagar, faced disqualification from the Uttar Pradesh Assembly. Khan's disqualification came following a three-year jail sentence in a 2019 hate speech case, whereas Saini faced disqualification after receiving a two-year jail term in a 2013 Muzaffarnagar riots case.
Kuldeep Singh Sengar, an MLA from Unnao, was disqualified from the assembly in February 2020 following his conviction in a rape case. He was earlier expelled by the BJP.
Azam Khan's son and Samajwadi Party MLA Abdullah Azam Khan lost his Assembly membership in February this year after being sentenced to two years imprisonment for staging a sit-in on a highway after his cavalcade was stopped by the police for checking following an attack on a CRPF camp in Rampur on December 31, 2007.
In May this year, BSP MP from Ghazipur Afzal Ansari was disqualified from the Lok Sabha after being sentenced to four years imprisonment in a kidnapping-and-murder case.
Afzal Ansari, the MP from Ghazipur, was sentenced by an MP/MLA court in connection with the murder of BJP MLA from Ghazipur Krishnanand Rai in 2005 and the kidnapping and murder of Varanasi-based trader Nand Kishore Rungta in 1997. His brother Mukhtar was also convicted in the same case and sent to 10 years in jail.
(With PTI inputs)
