Congress MLA Bharti Convicted, Disqualified from Seat

A Delhi court convicted Madhya Pradesh Congress MLA Rajendra Bharti on Wednesday and sentenced him to three years in prison the following day for his role in a decades-old bank fraud case, leading to his immediate disqualification from the state assembly's Datia seat. The ruling, issued by Special Judge Digvijay Singh at Rouse Avenue District Court, also imposed a fine of Rs 1 lakh on Bharti, who represented the opposition Congress in the 2023 elections.

Bharti, 68, was found guilty alongside former bank cashier Raghuvir Sharan Prajapati of criminal conspiracy, cheating, and forgery under various sections of the Indian Penal Code. The case stemmed from a 1998 fixed deposit of Rs 10 lakh placed in the name of Bharti's late mother, Savitri Shyam, at the Zila Sahkari Krishi Aur Gramin Vikas Bank in Datia. As chairman of the bank at the time, Bharti allegedly conspired with Prajapati to forge records, extending the deposit's three-year term to 10 and 15 years to continue drawing high interest payments of 13.5 percent annually until 2011, even after rates had fallen. Prosecutors estimated the fraud netted around Rs 18.5 lakh in illicit interest for a family-run trust where Bharti...