Delhi court sentences MP legislator Rajendra Bharti to 3 years’ jail for forgery

E-PaperSubscribeSubscribeEnjoy unlimited accessSubscribe Now! Get features like A Delhi court on Thursday sentenced Madhya Pradesh Congress MLA Rajendra Bharti and his aide to three years in prison in connection with a cooperative bank cheating and forgery case. Congress MLA Rajendra Bharti jailed 3 years for bank fraud; court cites forgery, cheating, imposes ₹1 lakh fine, allows 2-month relief to appeal.This comes a day after special judge Dig Vinay Singh of the Rouse Avenue courts convicted Bharti, an MLA from Datia, and his aide Prajapati for the offences of criminal conspiracy, cheating and forgery of bank records. The court also imposed a fine of ₹1 lakh each on both the convicts, which it said will be used as compensation for the victim bank. During the proceedings, Additional Public Prosecutor Manish Rawat argued for the maximum sentence, submitting that both the convicts had worked for the bank they cheated and, despite being its custodians, caused losses that undermined public trust in the banking system. The prosecutor said that Bharti was also involved in half a dozen criminal cases and had tried to delay the trial in the present case. Also Read: MP Congress MLA Rajendra Bharti convicted for cheating, forgery by Delhi court Meanwhile, advocate Abhik Chimni, appearing for Bharti, argued that a lenient view be taken as Bharti was a three-time MLA with welfare responsibilities towards his constituency and had been suffering from several ailments. The court, however, went on to suspend the sentence for two months, during which time both the convicts can file an appeal against the judgment in an appellate court. The case, which was registered in 2015 in Madhya Pradesh’s Datia, was transferred to Delhi by the Supreme Court in October last year after noting claims that efforts were made to intimidate defence witnesses. In a 95-page judgment, the court said that Bharti and Prajapati, along with other unknown persons, entered into a criminal conspiracy with the objective of cheating the complainant bank, Zila Sahkari Krishi aur Gramin Vikas Bank, by drawing interest at a much higher rate. “In furtherance of this conspiracy, the bank documents, which are valuable securities, were forged, and the forgery was part of the aim to cheat the bank,” the court said. The prosecution, led by Additional Public Prosecutor Manish Rawat, argued that Bharti’s late mother, Savitri, deposited ₹10 lakh in the Zila Sahkari Krishi aur Gramin Vikas Bank at Datia on August 24, 1998. The deposit was made in the name of a family-run trust as a fixed deposit (FD) for three years at an interest rate of 13.5% per annum. The prosecution submitted that the accused conspired to extend the high-interest payments indefinitely by physically tampering with bank records, such as ledgers, receipts and counterfoils. “Bharti, who served as the Chairman of the bank during the period of the fraud, used his position to pressure employees and facilitate the unauthorised payments to his family trust,” the court observed, noting that co-accused Prajapati’s initials were found next to the tampered sections of the records where correction fluid was applied. The court dismissed the defence’s argument that the accused were public servants immune from prosecution in the absence of government sanction. “Committing an offence punishable under law can never be considered part of a public servant’s official duties… Since forgery involves creating false documents and cheating involves deception, these acts are regarded as a dereliction of duty rather than the performance of a duty,” the court said. Arnabjit Sur is a Senior Correspondent with Hindustan Times' Legal Bureau. He covers Delhi's district courts. Previously, he has covered crime in the city.