Bhopal . Assembly membership of Congress leader Rajendra Bharti, convicted in the Cooperative Bank scam, has been abolished. The Assembly Secretariat issued an official order in this regard late Thursday night. Datia Assembly has been declared vacant in the Gazette of the Assembly Secretariat. This decision was taken under the provisions of legal rules after Rajendra Bharti was sentenced to 3 years imprisonment in the fraud case. The official gazette reads, “The Delhi Court has passed judgment against Rajendra Bharti, elected member of the Sixteenth Legislative Assembly of Madhya Pradesh from Constituency Number 22-Datia. As a result of his conviction, he has been sentenced to three years’ imprisonment and a fine of Rs 1 lakh. He (Rajendra Bharti) has been punished in compliance with the order of the Supreme Court (July 10, 2013) under Article 191 (1) (c) of the Constitution read with Under Section 8 of the Public Representation Act, 1951, Rajendra Bharti has been disqualified from membership of the Legislative Assembly with effect from April 2, 2026. Therefore, a seat has become vacant in the Madhya Pradesh Legislative Assembly.
Earlier, Delhi’s Rouse Avenue Court sentenced Congress leader Rajendra Bharti from Datia (Madhya Pradesh) to three years imprisonment in the Cooperative Bank scam case. The court also awarded the same punishment to his co-accused Raghuveer Sharan Prajapati.
On Wednesday, the court had declared Rajendra Bharti guilty, after which he was sent to jail. The court said in its judgment that Rajendra Bharti was found guilty of criminal conspiracy under Section 120B of the Indian Penal Code and offenses related to cheating and forgery under Sections 420, 467, 468 and 471 of the Indian Penal Code.
This matter was under discussion for a long time and there was controversy regarding its hearing. Actually, Rajendra Bharti had approached the Supreme Court to transfer the case against him from Gwalior’s MP-MLA Court to Delhi. He had alleged that senior BJP leader of Madhya Pradesh and former Home Minister Narottam Mishra and his family members are trying to influence the matter.
Rajendra Bharti also said that the prosecution officers are also working under political pressure, due to which they are not getting a fair trial. On the basis of these allegations, he had demanded that the case should be heard at some other place instead of Gwalior. While hearing his petition, the Supreme Court had transferred the case to Delhi’s Rouse Avenue Court.
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