Court suspends conviction of MLA citing Rahul case

BAHRAICH/LUCKNOW: The Bahraich district and sessions court suspended on Monday the conviction and two-year jail sentence of BJP MLA Mahasi Sureshwar Singh in a 22-year-old case, citing the relief granted by the Supreme Court to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi in August 2023 in the Modi surname case.

On Thursday, Sureshwar Singh had been convicted of threatening a sub-divisional magistrate in 2002 and sentenced.

"We are of the considered view that the ramification of sub-section (3) of Section 8 of the Representation of People Act is wide-ranging. They (sic) not only affect the right of the appellant to continue in public life but also affect the right of the electorate," Bahraich district and sessions judge Utkarsh Chaturvedi said.

In August 2023, the SC had stayed Rahul's conviction in the Modi surname case.